Argentine cuisine
- This article was Spanish Translation of the Week. The #Central region and las Pampas, #Northwest region and Cuyo, #Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, #Appendix sections still need to be translated. The Spanish text has been commented out; to translate, simply click edit on the specific sections. You can also help by copyediting and proofreading.
Argentine cuisine is distinct from that of the rest of Latin America by the characteristic influx of two great European traditions: Italian and Spanish cuisine. Beyond these there is the influence of native American cuisine. Among the native influences one must note those of Andean origin (including Quechua and Mapuche as well as many others) and those of Amazonic origin (such as the Guaraní). Given the importance of Italian, Spanish and even Near-East influx, the typical Argentine diet is a continuation what is often called the Mediterranean diet.
Another determining factor of Argentine cuisine is that Argentina is one of the world's major food producers, including wheat, maize, meat (especially beef), milk, and since the 1970s, also soybeans. The large production of red meat makes it a common part of the Argentine diet (in many periods of Argentine history the annual consumption of red meat has been above 100 kg per capita, and in the 19th century, consumption neared 180 kg per capita). Similarly, the huge size of the production of wheat have made white (wheat flour) bread the most commonly found on the table, and explains the success of certain Italian dishes based on it.
Besides the regional differences which are mentioned in this article, there exist at least two others which are important in understanding Argentine cuisine: The first distinguishes a cuisine that is essentially urban (highly influenced by the "globalization" of cuisine and its customs) from a rural one, which is more traditional and occasionally, more 'folkloric'. The other distinction is made on the basis of socioeconomic criteria.
Typical foods
Argentines are famous for their high protein diet, particularly beef. Grilled meat (parrillada) from the asado is a staple, with steak and beef ribs especially common. Chorizo, morcilla, chinchulines, mollejas, and other parts of the animal are enjoyed. In Patagonia, lamb and chivito — goat — are eaten more than beef. Whole lambs and goats can be seen on the asado. Chimichurri, a sauce of herbs and chili, is usually the only seasoning for steak and chorizo.
Breaded and fried meat — milanesas — are used as snacks, in sandwiches or eaten warm with mashed potatoes — puré. Empanadas — pastries of meat, cheese, sweet corn and a hundred other varieties — are a common sight for parties, starters and picnics across Argentina. Vegetables and salads are important too for Argentines, even beyond the fried or mashed potato. Tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes and zucchini are common sides.
Just as much as beef, Italian staples, such as pizza and al dente pasta, are eaten. It is said that Buenos Aires has more pizzerias than Rome. Fideos, ñoquis, ravioles and canelones can be bought freshly-made on every block in Buenos Aires. Italian-style ice cream is made in huge parlours, with even drive-thru places offering hundreds of flavors to satisfy this national obsession.
In Chubut, the Welsh community is known for their teahouses, with scones and Torta Galesa, rather like Bara Brith.
Sandwiches de miga are delicate sandwiches made with crustless buttered white bread, very thinly sliced cured meat and cheese and leaf lettuce. They are often purchased from entrepreneurial home cooks and consumed with a Quilmes beer for a light evening meal.
In the provinces, food is less European and more influenced by pre-Columbian and colonial traditions, with maize, beans, pumpkins and chilis making more appearances, whereas in Buenos Aires, even black pepper has been shunned. Locro is a spicy stew of white maize, often with pumpkin and sausage. Pucheros (stews) and cazuelas (casserikes) reflect a blend of Amerindian and Spanish cuisines.
The sweet paste, Dulce de leche is another national obsession, used to fill cakes and pancakes, spread over toasted bread for breakfast or as an ice cream flavour. Alfajores are shortbread cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche or a fruit paste. The "policeman's" or "truck driver's" sweet is cheese with quince paste or dulce de membrillo. Dulce de batata is made of sweet potato / yam: this with cheese is the Martin Fierro's sweet. Fruits of Argentina are delicious, and their quinces, apples, pears, peaches, kiwifruits, avocados and plums are major exports.
A traditional drink of Argentina is a tea-like drink called yerba mate or mate. The dried leaves and twigs are placed in a small cup, also called mate, usually made from a gourd, but also bone or horn. The drink is sipped through a metal or cane straw called a bombilla. Mate can be sweetened with sugar, or flavoured with aromatic herbs or dried orange peel, to hide its strong bitter flavour, although this a less traditional method, looked at unkindly by seasoned drinkers, as the added flavours may remain in the gourd and influence later mates. Hot water is poured into the gourd at near-boiling point so as to not burn the herb and spoil the flavour. This action is called cebando el mate, and is consdered an important social ritual. At family or small social gatherings, one mate may be shared by the group, with the host preparing the mate to the preference of each guest. When one guest is finished, the mate is returned to the host, who will then prepare a mate for another guest. Mate cocido is the same leaf, which rather than brewed, is boiled and served, as coffee or tea, with milk or sugar to taste. Other typical drinks include wine (occasionally mixed with soda water); tea and coffee are equally important. 'Quilmes' is the national brand of lager, named after the town Quilmes where it was first produced.
Regional differences
Although there exists an Argentine cuisine that is common to the whole country—asados (grilled meats), dulce de leche (a sweet caramel-like custard), empanadas and mate—there is a cuisine that is specific to each of four regions of Argentina, which follow in order of population (2005):
- Central/Pampean
- North-west/Cuyo
- North-east
- Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego
Central region and las Pampas
This region comprises of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, La Pampa, part of Entre Ríos, and all of the Autonomos City of Buenos Aires. This region of Argentina has received the greatest direct European influence, most visibly from Italy and Spain. It is also a crucial center of cattle production for Argentina and is thus the origin of the quintessentially Argentine dishes carne asada (roasted beef) and dulce de leche. It is here that red-meat-based foods are combined with white meat, diary products and pasta, producing a high-protein diet.
In addition to the aforementioned carne asada and dulce de leche, other dishes that typify the region are milanesas, or breaded meats. A common dish of this variety is the milanesa napolitana (the name comes from Naples, Italy). Milanesa napolitana is an Argentine innovation despite its name. In addition to roast beef, bifes, and churrascos, a visitor to the central region will find many dishes of Italian origin that have been incorporated into the Argentine cuisine and heavily modified from their original forms.
Pizza (locally pronounced pisa), for example, has been wholly subsumed and in its Argentine form more closely resembles Italian calzones than it does its Italian ancestor. Typical or exclusively Argentine pizzas include pizza canchera, pizza rellena (stuffed pizza), pizza por metro (pizza by the meter), and pizza a la parrilla (grilled pizza). While Argentine pizza, derives from Neapolitan cuisine, the Argentine fugaza/fugazza comes from the focaccia xeneise (Genoan), but in any case its preparation is rather different. It is rather different in preparation from its Italian counterpart, and the addition of cheese to make the dish fugaza con queso or fugazzeta is an Argentine invention.
Another Argentine invention is fainá, a type of fugazza made with chickpea flour (adopted from Spain). During the 20th century, people in pizza shops in Buenos Aires, Rosario or Córdoba have commonly ordered a "combo" of moscato, pizza, and fainá. This is a large glass of a sweet wine called moscato (muscat), plus two triangular stacked pieces (the lower one being pizza and the upper one fainá).
Nevertheless, the pastas (pasta, always in the plural) surpass pizzas in consumption levels. Among them are tallarines (fettuccine), ravioles (ravioli), ñoquis (gnocchi, and canelones (cannelloni). They are usually cooked, served, and consumed in Argentine fashion, called al-uso-nostro, a phrase of Italian origin.
For example, it is common for pasta to be eaten together with white bread ("French bread"), which is unusual in Italy. This can be explained by the low cost of bread and the fact that Argentine pastas tend to come together with a large amount of tuco sauce (Italian suco "juice"), and accompanied by estofado (stew). Less commonly, pastas are eaten with a dressing of pesto, a green sauce based on basil, or salsa blanca (Béchamel sauce).
The sorrentinos are also a local dish with a misleading name (they do not come from Sorrento, but were invented in Mar del Plata). They look like big round ravioles stuffed with mozzarella, cottage cheese and basil in tomato sauce.
Polenta comes from northern Italy and is very common throughout Argentina. But unlike in Italy, this cornmeal is eaten as a main dish, with sauce and melted cheese.
Spanish influences are abundant: desserts like the churros (cylinders of pastry, usually fried, sometimes filled with dulce de leche) and ensaimadas, alfajores, and dishes such as the tortillas (omelets, especially made of potato, and having little to do with the Mexican dish of the same name), most kinds of stew, and puchero. Many of the guisos and pucheros (stews) are derived from Spain.
Empanadas, though typically South American, have an Andalucian origin (they derived from the Near-Eastern lahmayim and fatay), and they can be also traced to the Galician empanada and to certain stuffed calzoni.
Germanic influence is comparatively small, but appears remarkable in the field of sweet dishes. The pastries known as facturas are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas, are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter- and lard-based. Also German in origin are the "Berlinese" known as bolas de fraile ("friar's balls"), and the rolls called piononos. The facturas were re-christened with local names given the difficult phonology of German, and usually Argentinized by the addition of a dulce of leche filling.
Most dishes of the Central/Pampean region are urban, often requiring a gas oven of a type not found in the countryside. This is not strange considering that more than 80% of the Argentine population is concentrated in the main cities of this region (Buenos Aires, Rosario, Córdoba, etc.). Not much is left of the gaucho food, except asado, dulce de leche, mate (the yerba mate infusion), tortas fritas, and arroz con leche (rice pudding).
The scene was different until the first half of the 19th century. Lucio V. Mansilla in his Memorias records that that in the cities of Buenos Aires province (which at that time also included Montevideo, now in Uruguay) common foods were quibebe, mazamorra (a sweet, milky corn pudding) as a dessert, chancaca (a sugary, brown, corn cake), the pacú fish, surubí, sábalo, asados (roasts) etc.
When the Salta-born Juana Manuela Gorriti wrote her book La cocina ecléctica ("Eclectic Cuisine") in the last years of the 19th century, already a large part of the Argentine preparations mentioned in this book were forgotten among the people of the Central region and the Pampas. It was precisely in this era that the great innovative influx of Italian immigrants and Italian food occurred. The aforementioned L.V. Mansilla noted the existence of ravioles in principal cities of the River Plate basin around the 1880s; Jorge Luis Borges said that "the first time" that he came to know ravioli was at the beginning of the 20th century, while very young, at the home of Italian immigrants whose Argentine son invited him.
In the rural areas of the Pampas corresponding to la Pampa Húmeda, principally in the center and south of Santa Fe, center, east and south of Córdoba and north Buenos Aires, sausage preparations such as salames (salami), bondiolas, codeguines, salamines, etc. are very common.
The preparation of ham is inherited as much from the Spanish jabugos as from the prosciutti of Parma (Italy). The most famous Argentine hams are probably the jamones serranos (Serrano hams) from Sierras de Córdoba and environs.
Northwest region
The Northwest region includes the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja, San Juan, Mendoza, and San Luis.
The cuisine of this region shows the massive influence of the prehispanic cultures in the Andes Mountains; in fact the historical centers of the provinces of this region are located in Andean areas, with the exception of Tucumán, Santiago del Estero y San Luis, although Tucumán and San Luis retain physical characteristics similar to the Andeans and their traditional products are in an Andean style (such as corn and potatoes) and include the existence of the "taco" or the native carob bean.
There also exist here, as in almost all of continental Argentina, an important cattle ranching industry, but there are also other herds of animals: aside from the indigenous species(especially the llama), in addition there are non-native species acclimated for almost half a millennium, such as goats, sheep and pigs. The native species in this region have been relegated almost exclusively to the arid zones of the Puna and the High Andean Desert.
Northeast region
The region includes the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Misiones, Formosa, and most of Entre Ríos, the north of Santa Fe, and the east of Santiago del Estero.
Four principal foods characterize the nourishing productions of this Argentine region: la mandioca, rice, freshwater fish, and mate.
This area of Argentina provides yerba mate (caá) to the rest of the nation, and even to neighboring states. The two provinces of Corrientes and Misiones are the principal producers of yerba. As the main producer of yerba mate, the mate drink is most popular in this area. In the Northeast, mate is sometimes mixed with cold fruit juices (called Tereré), or even with spirits.
Mandioca cassava and many dishes of Northeast Argentina are identical or very similar to those of Paraguay and of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Common foods include varieties of homemade breads (panes caseros), some made with mandioca flour, and tapioca. Varieties of tapioca called chipá and chipaca spread throughout Southern cone due to internal migrations. Mandioca is also the base for the dish called beyú (also known as mbeyú or mvejú). Empanadas are also made here with Mandioca flour instead of traditional wheat flour. Rice is widely available and is often used in the filling of empanadas. In the Entre Rios province it is also possible to find empanadas filled with milk pudding.
The abundance of rivers, streams, and lagoons makes fish common to the northeastern diet. Among the fish commonly eaten are pacú, dorado, surubí, mandiyú, manguruyú, patí and boga. They can be roasted, served with rice stews or in empanadas.
Carpincho (capybara) and yacaré meat were common before the arrival of the Spanish conquest, and can still be found. The carpincho' is sometimes cooked by placing hot stones inside the dead animal.
Fruit production is also widespread, and fruit is a component of various desserts and beverages. The horticultural fruits are oranges, bananas, watermelons, avocados, grapefruits, tangerines, and pineapples.
Palm trees are found in this region, and the palmitos (palm hearts) are nowadays eaten all over Argentina, usually with Salsa Golf, a mix of ketchup and mayonnaise.
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
This region consists of the provinces of Chubut, Neuquén, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands.
Here, one can encounter asados (roasts), dulce de leche , empanadas (except for the Falkland Islands), and the intake of infusions of yerba mate (although it often has to come from abroad).
Tallarines, Raviolis, ñoquis (gnocchi), and pizzas are also common in Southern Argentina. Unlike the rest of the country, the southern region has, like its natural production, migratory influences, and its climate, has come unique characteristics. In addition to the always present influence of Italian and Castillian flavors, one can notice the influence of Central and Northwestern Europe.
Welsh immigration, for example, since the second half of the 1960s in Chubut has introduced two large contributions to local cuisine: the torta negra, and the cheese called Chubut, whose consumption later sspread to the greater part of Patagonia (especially in Neuquén) and in the south of the province of Buenos Aires.
Central European immigration has spread the preparation of certain deserts and sweets (cherry, apple, raspberry, bilberry, rosa mosqueta, zarzaparrilla (sarsaparilla), sauces, etc.) chocolates like those of Bariloche and the practice of smoking wild boar and red deer meat.
The original peoples had made their particular contributions, such as the curanto, el ñaco (a kind of porridge), breads and cakes made from flour composed of "nuez" de pehuén, a candy called llao llao, as well as the fruits of the lenga and calafate.
The coastlines and lakes of this region have proven rich in fish and shellfish, leading to extravagant preparation of seafood. It is common to find "patés", roasts and guisos of centolla (spider crab), squid, giant squid, octopus, pollock, salmon, trouts, corvinas, oysters, and so forth.
The cold weather is a good "excuse" for the consumption of spirits, the Andean portion of Patagonia produces their crafted beers, and the current trends compare those found in Ireland and Central Europe. In the valleys of the Río Negro y Neuquén (ultimately going into northwest Chubut) fine white wines such as Riesling are made, being perhaps the most southern vineyards in the world.
Inevitably, there are also roasts. Characteristically, in the southern part of Argentina, besides cattle roast, there are pig roasts, goat roasts, and especially corderito patagónico lamb, guanaco, ñandú (rhea), and Patagonic deer.
Appendix
Though we have assembled a review of the cuisine of Argentina and its principal regions, with abundant information, it would be incomplete if the article mentioned only the foods and beverages already cited.
For example, though the importance of the production and consumption of wine (vino) has been discussed, it is important to note that beer (cerveza; the Italian birra is frequently used) in the second half of the 20th century (at the least) and in the first five years of the 21st, competes with wine in popularity. Breweries appeared in Argentina at the end of the 1860s, started by Alsacian colonists; the first were almost in the downtown of Buenos Aires (el égido de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), and soon Polish brewers began industrial production of beer: San Carlos in the province of Santa Fe, Río Segundo and Córdoba in the province of Córdoba, Quilmes and Lavallol on the outskirts of La Plata (a province of Buenos Aires), San Miguel de Tucumán in the province of Tucumán and on the outskirts of the cities of Mendoza and Salta. The presence of a rather important production and consumption of beer has supported the existence of related events, for example the so-called Oktoberfests (sic) or "Fiestas de la Cerveza" in locations that have a significant German population (Villa General Belgrano in Córdoba, San Carlos and Esperanza in the province of Santa Fe, etc.). Such celebrations copy, in an Argentine manner, Munich's Oktoberfest, and similarly are tourist attractions. However, the presence of an also-numerous population of Celtic lineage, principally of Irish origin, has supported the creation of other celebrations of beer, often for marketing purposes, such as Saint Patrick's Day (Día de San Patricio), patron of Ireland, which is celebrated with abundant libations.
Although the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Argentina is perhaps less than that of the United States, and certainly much less than that of the British Isles, Scandinavia, or Central and Eastern Europe, the Argentines enjoy a variety of alcoholic beverages and Argentina can boast a varied array of elaboraciones, whether industrial or artisanal. Besides beer and wine, Argentines frequently drink cider (here again, the heritage comes from Spain and Italy, more precisely from Asturias and Campania). Cider is the most popular beverage of the middle and lower economic classes at Christmas and New Year (the high classes preferring to celebrate with champagne).
Other widely consumed spirit beverages are aguardiente (firewater) made from sugar cane, known as caña quemada ("burnt cane") or, simply, caña ("cane"). A folkloric note about caña quemada: until June 21 it is traditional to drink caña quemada with ruda macho (a variant of common rue), it is supposed that this mixture prevents the flu and other illnesses. Caña competes, mainly in rural areas, with gin.
There are many artisanally produced liqueurs in Argentina, for example those flavored with peperina, orange, egg, anise, coffee, cherry and, inevitably, dulce de leche.
The esperidina is a type of liqueur (a distilled, flavored alcoholic beverage) made from orange peels invented in Argentina around 1890.
Among the liqueurs one may count chitronchelo or (in Italian) citroncello, based on lemon. This beverage arrived with immigrants from the Mezzogiorno, and is produced both artisanally and industrially (for example, in Mar del Plata).
Nevertheless, Argentines are far more adept at non-alcoholic infusions (although now and then both "families" are mixed; the yerbiao for example, is mate mixed with caña or gin). To insist with the mate as the favourite drink might be redundant but it must be done; but the fact that the mate is very consumed by the inhabitants of the Southern Cone must not lure the foreigner into thinking that other infusions are rare in the region, in Argentina especially, given that there is a strong European cultural imprint, the consume of coffee is very common. And not so long ago chocolate infusions were common (the eating of chocolate is a Spanish influence—although the plant originated in Meso-America), this consumption grows during autumn and winter, or in the cold regions of the country; there are two dates where consumption of chocolate infusions is traditional in the primary educational centres: 25 May and 9 July, that is, the two national dates of Argentina.
The English cultural influx (reinforced at the end of the 19th century and beginnings of the 20th by the resurgence of the Far East) has also made very common the consumption of tea.
To finish the index of infusions consumed in Argentina, it must be said that medicinal herbs are common in the whole country, and that many of them are drunk infused: chamomile, lanceleaf, boldo, poleo, peperina, carqueja, tomillo, canchalagua, rue (macho and hembra, that is, "male" and "female"), malva, romero, passion flower, bira bira, palán palán, muña muña, to mention only the main ones. Many of these herbs are also used in aperitifs and bitters, whether alcoholic or not.
Common restoranes or restaurantes nearly anywhere in Argentina today serve (into the wee hours) quickly prepared meals that, in the course of the 20th century came to be known as minutas. Some of the dishes included in the catgory of minutas are milanesas, churrascos, bifes, escalopes, tallarines, ravioles, ñoquis, although some are very typical of los lugares de ventas de comida: los "bifes a caballo" (bistecs de carne vacuna acompañado con dos huevos fritos), la "milanesa a horse", la "milanesa completa" (una milanesa con dos huevos fritos y una guarnición de papas fritas), el revuelto Gramajo, el colchón de arvejas , la "suprema de chicken" (una especie de milanesa de carne de pollo), los matambres, la lengua a la vinagreta y los "sandwiches"...
"Sandwiches"...así es como se llama a los emparedados en Argentina, la variedad de "sandwiches" en Argentina parece casi infinita, los más comunes son los de milanesa, los de jamón cocido y queso, los de pan de miga, los de pan tostado, los pebetes, los panchos, los carlitos, los llamados choripanes y morcipanes etc; desde Montevideo se ha difundido una especie de emparedado llamado chivito, aunque muchas veces en éste no exista ninguna carne caprina.
Su mención merecen las picadas, las cuales son consumidas en los hogares o en los bares, "cafés", "cafetines" y "bodegones", tratánse las picadas de un conjunto de platillos en los que se encuentran distribuidos dados de queso (tipo queso Mar del Plata o Chubut), dados de salame, aceitunas en salmuera, papas fritas", maníes,etc.; toda picada se consume acompañada por alguna bebida alcohólica (un "fernet" , una cerveza, un vino con soda, para dar algunos de los ejemplos más comunes).
Para ir concluyendo el presente article, debe recordarse que los argentinos son muy aficionados a los helados, en especial a los de tipo italiano, aunque ya desde el tiempo de la colonia española existía alguna afición a los helados ,en ese entonces de tipo sorbete preparados aprovechando la caída de granizo , ó, donde era posible ,la existencia de nieve (se documenta la fabricación de helados con nieve en la ciudad de Mendoza ya a inicios de s XIX). -->
References
- This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of August 3, 2005.
External links
- E Turismo ArgentinaLists popular or national dishes and beverages.
- Planet ArgentinaProvides comprehensive information on how cuisine and culture are mixed. Includes details on the variety of foods and restaurants.