Who wants chimichurri?. Photo courtesy of Reluctant Gourmet

I finally got some time to sit down and write this next article in the Traditional Diets series. This week, we’re heading down to the land of meat, meat, and more meat, otherwise known as Argentina. This is going to be a delicious, carnivorous adventure.

History of Argentinian Cooking:

Argentina is an interesting country to discuss, given its widely ranging environments, from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the south. As we’ll see, this environmental range lends definite regional differences. Argentina takes most of its culinary tradition from the Europeans that conquered the continent, beginning with the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci in 1502, soon followed by the Spanish.

The first indication of human presence in what is today Argentina dates to around 11,000 BC, but the land was relatively sparsely populated until European arrival. The Guarani tribes lived in the north-eastern part of the land, near present day Uruguay. The Diaguita tribes resided in the northwest, and the southern tip of the country, known as Patagonia, was populated by the Tehuelche tribes. I have a feeling that the Tehuelche, in particular, consumed a proper, nutrient-rich Paleolithic Diet, given the tales of a race of giants living in the Patagonia area. The Tehuelche were known to be quite tall and height is an indicator of nutritional status.

While there are regional differences in the cuisine, certain foods are found north to south, namely asado (grilled meat), dulce de leche, empanadas, and yerba mate. Now let’s jump into this delicious cuisine with its Italian, Spanish, French, and other European influences. By incorporating these influences with those of the indigenous tribes, Argentina has a cuisine a bit different from that of other Latin American countries.

If you didn’t pick it up from the lead-in, Argentinians eat lots and lots of meat. Beef, pork, lamb, chicken - pretty much any animal source of protein is fair game. But mainly beef. In fact, Argentina has the highest beef consumption per capita in the world at 68kg (150lbs) per person per year.(1) The country is well-known for big steaks, multiple times per day. As Maciej Ceglowski puts it, “Steaks here are ridiculous - not so much in diameter, since they rarely overhang the plate by more than an inch or two - but in thickness, having roughly the proportions of an American canned ham.”(2) I love that part that I italicized. Maciej also points out something very important about the distinctly delicious flavor of Argentinian beef, something that those of us that opt for grass-fed meats understand:(2)

Almost all of this has to do with how the cows are raised. There are no factory feedlots in Argentina; the animals still eat pampas grass their whole lives, in open pasture, and not the chicken droppings and feathers mixed with corn that pass for animal feed in the United States. Since this is the way of life a cow was designed for, it is not necessary to pump the animal full of antibiotics. The meat is leaner, healthier and more flavorful than that of corn-fed cattle. It has fewer calories, contains less cholesterol, and tastes less mushy and waterlogged than American meat. And the cows spend their lives out grazing in the field, not locked into some small pen. You can taste the joy.

So now that we’ve touched on the high protein content of the diet, what else do Argentinians eat? Being one of the world’s largest food producers, Argentina has an abundance of wheat, corn, milk, beans, and soybeans to go with their beef. Because of the wheat abundance, there is plenty of white bread to go around. Of course, there are empanadas, famous throughout Latin America, along with such fare as mashed potatoes. And most importantly, various vegetables are important to the Argentinian table, namely “tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes and zucchini.”(3)

Besides steak and roasts, Argentinians also eat various other types of meat, such as chorizo, blood sausage (morcilla), chitterlings (chinchulines), and sweetbread (mollejas). Some meats are breaded and fried, similar to German schnitzel, and used as snacks between steaks. And unlike most of us in the United States, there is no fear of offal. Entrails are thrown on the grill along with the muscle meats. Surprisingly, given the large amount of marine resources in the country, fish and other seafoods are not consumed in large quantities.

Owing to the large Italian influence on the diet, foods such as pasta and pizza are as common as beef. Even gelato has found its place in the country. In the northeast part of the country, tropical and citrus fruits are grown heavily for export, but some of this makes its way to the table also. As we’ll see in the recipes below, Argentinian stews often combine meats, vegetables, and fruits.(1) Locro, a national dish, is a prime example, including various meats with squash, onions, potatoes, cream and cheese, corn, and beans.

Breakfast in Argentina is much like what you would find in Europe, with “croissants, brioches, or ‘facturas with dulce de leche’, filled churros, French bread with jam and butter, grilled sandwiches of ham and cheese known as tostados, and sweet or salted cookies.”(4) However, coffee or mate is the most important part of the meal. Another “popular breakfast drink is the submarino, which is a glass of steamed milk with a bitter sweet chocolate bar melted into it.”(5)

Dinner in Argentina is very late, starting sometime between 8 and 10pm, depending on the family and season of the year. Like breakfast, the dinner table is full of European influenced foods. Beef and other meats, salads, stews, soups, and various pastas feature prominently. Because dinner is so late - few restaurants even serve before 9pm - lunch is a big meal, typically eaten around 1pm and followed by a siesta and then tea time at 5pm before heading back out to work or sports.

Argentinians have a rather strong liking for a caffeinated drink known as mate, an infusion of leaves and twigs from the yerba mate bush. Just to further confuse things, mate is drank through a metal straw, or bombilla, out of a gourd called (wait for it)…a mate. There are entire social rituals surrounding the preparation and consumption of mate. Between that and the coffee, one would think the country runs on beef and caffeine. Also of note is that Argentina has the fifth highest per capita consumption of wine in the world.

Regional Variations:

The central region, including Las Pampas, is the center of cattle production for the country. This is the origin of the quintessential Argentinian foods of barbecued meat and dulce de leche. The European influences are heaviest in this region, culminating in variations on pizza, pasta, ham and sausage, and sauerkraut.

In the northwest, much of the influence of the indigenous Andes mountains dwellers has been maintained. There is a plethora of vegetables and grains grown in this region, from quinoa and amaranth to chayote and pumpkins. A few Hispanic influences creep in in the form of tamales and humitas. This region of the country is where the best Argentinian wines are produced.

The northeast provides the great majority of the country’s yerba mate, which as you can imagine means mate is more heavily consumed in this area. Most of the fish consumed in the country are eaten in the northeast region due to its abundance of rivers and streams.

In Patagonia, the southern area of Argentina, residents consume more lamb and young goat than beef. They throw entire lambs and goats on the grill. Central and Northwest European influences play more strongly in this region.

The Good:

I don’t think there’s any question that Argentinians know how to eat. Just writing this article has me ready to hop on the next plane to Buenos Aires. The high protein content of the diet is a good thing and Argentinians don’t appear to be afraid of fat either. The centerpiece of the two main meals is often a steak, a big steak, surrounded by vegetables and fruits.

As we’re finding in our exploration of the cuisines of other countries, freshness reigns supreme. A true Argentinian meal is heavy on the fresh, light on the processed, bread and pasta being about the worst transgressions. Sauces like chimichurri are made from lots of herbs, vegetables, and olive oil.

As we’ve seen in our other country tours, the social aspect of eating plays a big role in Argentina. The minimization of the social aspects of eating is possibly one of the biggest problems with the Standard American Diet. There is much less eating on the run in these traditional diets and the major meals appear to always include sitting down and actually talking to people.

The Bad:

Breakfast and snacks tend to be a bit starchy. Breakfast looks to be quite the train wreck, full of processed carbs. Snacks are often sandwiches or empanadas, empanadas also serving as appetizers for lunch and dinner. Much like the diet in Italy, the pastas have to go if one is to experience Argentinian cuisine in a whole foods, Paleolithic manner. And it’s probably a bad idea to quaff caffeine all day long in the quantities that it seems to be consumed there.

Just avoid the dulce de leche. I’m going to have to turn it back over to Mr. Ceglowski again for this description because I found this funny:(2)

Dulce de leche is a culinary cry for help. It says “save us, we are baffled and alone in the kitchen, we don’t know what to do for dessert and we’re going to boil condensed milk and sugar together until help arrives”. This cloying dessert tar is so impossibly sweet that you wish you were ten years old again, just so you could actually enjoy it.

A Few Recipes:

Boy, recipes have proven hard to come by for this country. Apparently, the beef is of such high quality that it is typically eaten plain, no need to cover the poor quality of the food with elaborate soups, stews, or sauces. I’m a bit disappointed in the number of recipes that I found, but I suppose I can’t argue with eating high-quality steak with a bit of chimichurri. There are lots of other recipes that are too overburdened with grains and sugar to be modifiable.

Meat and Such

• Matambre - The national dish, “a rolled, flank steak filled with vegetables, eggs and herbs that is then boiled or oven-roasted,” Recipe
• Pollo Rio Negro - A simple marinated chicken recipe; Recipe
• Calamari and Onions - A simple way to use up that calamari you’ve been eyeing; Recipe
• Lamb Rolls - Swap the potatoes for sweet potatoes and you have a delicious meal; Recipe
• Milanesas a Caballo estilo David - Swap out the bread crumbs for some almond flour and make a breaded steak; Recipe

Sides, Appetizers, Soups, and Salads

• Carbonada Criolla - A stew of meat, vegetables, and fruits. It has a few potatoes that could be swapped out for something else and some corn that would need to be avoided; Recipe
• Stew in a Pumpkin Shell - Similar to the Carbonada Criolla, but made in a hollowed out pumpkin shell; Recipe

Sauces

• Chimichurri - A sauce of various herbs and spices mixed with olive oil and used as a meat topping or marinade, Recipe
• Basic Grill Marinade - This is a basic marinade for those cuts of meat that benefit from it; Recipe

Citations:

(1) Diet of South Americans
(2) Argentina On Two Steaks A Day
(3) Cuisine of Argentina - Wikipedia
(4) Homestay in Argentina
(5) Breakfast and Brunch in Argentina

Other Sources:

Argentina - Wikipedia
Chimichurri - Wikipedia
Asado Argentina
History of Argentina - Wkipedia
Asado
Argentina Travel Guide
Life In Argentina

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Tags: Argentina, chimichurri, grain-fed, grass-fed, red meat, South America