la poesía de las empanadas

When asked by friends and family if I'm eating well in Argentina, I often detect a presupposition that I will reply with tales of exotic foods unknown back in the states. The truth is that while Argentine cuisine has its delicious side, it is an anomaly in Latin America in that it is heavily influenced by European traditions. The spices of Mexico, the tropical flavors of Central America, and the citrus-drenched seafood of Chile and Peru are just as foreign in Argentina as they are in the States, if not more so.

Here in Argentina, it's back to the basics: fresh pasta, pizza, potatoes, and plenty of home grown beef, often in the form of the ubiquitous 'milanesa', a steak that has been pounded thin, battered, and deep fried. Argentines also have an obsession with dulce de leche, a spreadable caramel sauce that is put on toast, in the middle of chocolate covered cookies called alfajores, in coffee, in ice cream... basically in any dessert or on any food that you want to make taste like dessert. A man standing in front of me at the supermarket a few days ago had in his cart, I kid you not, six tubs of dulce de leche, a cup of yogurt, and a toothbrush.

Another staple in Argentine cuisine is the galletita, or cracker. It's hard to imagine a food you could be less excited about, but walk into any supermarket and you'll find an entire aisle devoted to the beloved galletita. Galletitas with or without salt, whole wheat galletitas, gluten free galletitas, galletitas with a touch of sugar, galletitas with added fiber, low calorie galletitas, galletitas with omega-6 fatty acid. What strikes me as even odder is what galletitas are served with-- pretty much anything and everything. They accompany an afternoon tea, a dinner of pasta or rice, a beer before bed, and they are served for breakfast with, what else, dulce de leche. Everytime I find myself marveling with bemusment at the galletita aisle, I think about the things an Argentine would find strange in a supermarket in the States. To them, the peanut butter section would be a source of infinite confusion.

One staple of the Argentine diet I have yet to mention is the empanada, which, for those who are unfamiliar, are like classy hot pockets. As ubiquitous as the milanesa and as versatile as dulce de leche, the empanada is the go-to food when you're in a hurry, when you're hiking, when you don't have a lot of money, or when you're tired of ham and cheese sandwiches (one thin slice of ham, one thin slice of cheese, no matter how thick the bread is), which are also EVERYWHERE. I once ordered a vegetarian sandwich... the veggies were great, but the ham and cheese I discovered underneath was unnecessary.

Empanadas come in many different varieties, but at most places you have three choices: carne, jamón y queso, or pollo. Empanadas de jamón y queso are delicious but oftentimes very greasy, so I usually opt for a couple of the meat and a couple of the chicken, although I'll always go for 'veggie' if it's an option. Here, 'veggie' means they put canned or frozen spinach in it.

Empanadas are good for more than just sustenance. The price of an empanada is a barometer with which you are able to measure the cost of living in a given area. In Bariloche and Calafate, where tourists seem to outnumber residents and everything is expensive, an empanada will put you back 3.50 pesos, or a little less than one US dollar. 5000 kilometers to the north in Abra Pampa, where I'm pretty sure I was the only tourist in town, I got three empanadas to the peso, and I also found the cheapest lodging of my travels thus far: 15 pesos for a private room.

In Cafayate, a small wine town south of Salta where you can hire a local to give you an hours-long tour of the nearby mountains for a fraction of what it would cost in Calafate, an empanada goes for 1.75 pesos. It was here I discovered La Casa de Las Empanadas, a hole in the wall empanada joint that cooks up some seriously great empanadas filled with local vegetables, fresh goat cheese, sweet corn, and even wine.

While you're waiting 15 minutes for your empanadas to be cooked (always made fresh to order!) you can check out the hundreds of poetic messages on the walls of La Casa de Las Empanadas, inscribed by locals and tourists alike who know a good empanada when they taste one. Some are witty, some rhyme, some are a bit vulgar, but they all reflect the simple joy of biting into a cheap, fresh, hot empanada. If your castellano is better than mine, please feel free to offer your version of the translations!

rapido como hasta
la muela me queme!!
pero empanadas como
éstas nunca probé...

Translation:
I eat so fast
until my molars burn me!!
But empanadas like these
I have never tasted

-Ivan de Tucumán, 18/02/08





Veni, Vidi, Comi

Translation:
I came, I saw, I ate

-MT, 13/01/08




Siempre pensé que la mejor empanada
era la que femenina.
Pero en esta cantina
me cambiaron la vida.

Translation:
I always thought the best empanada
was the empanada of the woman.
But in this little restaurant
my life changed.

-Daniel y Hernán 26/02/08






Para comer estas empanadas
tenes que abrir las piernas
y agacharte...
¡por lo jugosas!

Translation:
In order to eat these empanadas
you have to open your legs
and bend forward...
because of the juices!

-Anibal, Gaby, Leo, Romi, and Silvana Torres





El viaje se disfruta mas
con estas ricas empanadas

Translation:
You enjoy your travels more
with these delicious empanadas

-Inés, Daniela, y Laura 9/1/08





Empezando por la misión,
Recorriendo el norte,
No hay mejor broche de oro
que las empanadas
de cafayate!!!

Translation (this one needs work):
Starting the mission
traveling throughout the north,
there is no better final touch
than the empanadas
of Cafayate!!!

-Jose, Mick, Félix 21/1/08





Si pensaste que tu vieja hace
las mejores empanadas...
Te engañaste!!!
Esta casa te lo demuestra

Translation:
If you thought that your mom makes
the best empanadas...
You were fooled!
This house will prove it to you

-Tomi, Vero, Lore 14/01/08





America,
recorremos.
Y en Cafayate
las mejoras empanadas comemos!

Translation:
America,
we're traveling through it.
And in Cafayate,
we ate the best empanadas!

-Aymi y Pancho 15/02/08

hola from...

... Cafayate! I know I haven´t blogged in awhile, and it will be until next weekend until I can do a full post with pictures and details, but I wanted to write a quick update so you can follow me around on a map if you want.

So right now I´m in Cafayate in Salta province. It´s a great little wine high up in an arid valley. The woman giving me a tour of a bodega today kept saying the climate was ¨almost like a desert¨, which is evident by the cacti and sandunes that begin right where the grapes end.

I left Buenos Aires on Thursday for my 12 day fall break. I headed to Tucuman, and from Tucuman to a town called Tafi del Valle, which was where I stayed Friday night. On Saturday, I grabbed a bus to Cafayate, but got dropped off first near the ruins of the Quilmes tribe. I grabbed the next bus a few hours later to Cafayate, checked into a hostel, cooked dinner, and slept.

Today I visited an organic winery, and later took a tour of the mountains and odd landforms around Cafayate. Tomorrow I want to see another winery and maybe a goat cheese factory, and then continue heading north to see how far I can get before heading back to Buenos Aires.

So that´s the quick version of my life for now... Will have much more next weekend, and possibly another update or two if I find another hostel with internet as fast as it is here. Chau!

more fotos of valle de la luna y talampaya

to the moon! and mars!

Fourteen hours west of Buenos Aires, within sight of the snow-capped "cordillera" of the Andes separating Argentina and Chile, lie two parks that offer a glimpse into another place and time.

Together they are known as Ischigualasto and Talampaya Natural Parks, and I made the westward trek last weekend to see them both. The first park is more commonly called "Valle de la Luna", and it was my first pit stop in a race around the world. I mean of the day. I've been watching too much 'Amazing Race.'

The landscape was so strange that it made me laugh out loud a few times during the tour. Rock spires listing at precarious angles, a colorless white landscape interrupted by perfectly spherical bowling ball sized rocks... the pictures describe it better than I ever could.

After the morning tour of la luna, I skipped across the border from San Juan province to La Rioja to see Talampaya. If Valle de la Luna is the moon on earth, Talampaya is definitely Mars. The tour van took us through a dry canyon with 500 foot tall walls on either side. The brick-red walls were sculpted by running water and looked like massive pillars. Adding to the mystique of the place are elaborate drawings etched into stones, remnants of the Martians who once roamed free there. (Indians, depending on who you ask)

The return trip through the canyon turned into somewhat of a safari, and I caught some pictures of llamas, rheas (like ostriches), and patagonian maras. When I first saw a mara I could have sworn it was my sister's dog Bean, but upon further research I learned that it is a rodent, kind of like a big rabbit with short ears and long skinny legs, and is also one of the few mammals that is monogamous. (Are humans considered monogamous? How many humans have to stay with the same partner for the entire species to be considered monogamous?)(Wow don't google that unless you have a lot of free time)

The parks were breath taking, but I was more than happy to return to the little town of San Agustin after my day exploring the otherworldly landscapes. The town was so tranquil and welcoming, with rustic cars and horses and dogs all sharing the little roads, and nobobdy seemed to lock up their doors or bikes at night.

Immediately upon my return to Buenos Aires, I was accosted by a pair of ladrones who sprayed fake bird poop on my back and tried to steal my backpack, a "welcome home" present that made me appreciate my weekend exploring extraterrestrial landscapes that much more.

Che knows best

For my sister, who is suffering through the final days of her third pregnancy in as many years, a message from one of Argentina's most famous historical figures: "Por amor, usa preservativo." Translation not required.

Hang in there Biff! Te amo y te extraño

mi primer pingüino

el pingüino ya había muerto

(corrected... thanks a lot steve)

don't let the photo's decieve you...

I'm living in a huge city filled with traffic, noise, bars, clubs, sirens, tango, dogs, and 13 million people.

I've been here for more than 3 weeks, which is more than enough time to formulate thoughts/opinions about almost any other city, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around this place.

It's been an especially difficult adjustment after spending a month in Patagonia. Hiking a glacier and crossing a 16 lane "avenue" are two very distinct challenges.

I didn't arrive here without friends, which has helped with the adjustment. Until yesterday, I had been exploring the city with Heidi, my house mate from Bariloche. She has left me once again, but we will hopefully reunite in Cordoba in April and/or in Buenos Aires in May. I have also been hanging out with Hadas, my friend from GW who is here on a different program but lives close by. We traveled to Mar del Plata together about a week ago, which is a big beach town about 5 hours south of BA. I wouldn't go again for the beaches, but the 'lobos del mar' (see previous post) were really cool. We also met a fun group of students in the hostel, which made the trip worth it.

Since my classes have only just begun, I'm still working on my normal 'routine'. My commute to school takes me from my apartment in Recoleta, a nice neighborhood north of the central financial district and south of the trendier Palermo, along Avenida Santa Fe to IES headquarters about 14 blocks away, right across Avenida 9 de Julio, the aforementioned 16 lane avenue.

To be fair, 9 de Julio is only 12 lanes wide, but it is lined on both sides by parallel 2 lane streets, which is a distinction without a difference when you're trying to cross.

So far, my experiences in the city have consisted of wandering through a massive and lively street fair in the old neighborhood of San Telmo (see dog attacking cow, previous post), eating/drinking/dancing the night away in Palermo, and navigating my way to and from IES and Universidad Museo Social Argentino (UMSA), where I'm taking a class this semester.

With no classes on Friday's and a national holiday pretty much every week, I'll be quickly adding to my adventures in BA and will keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy some pics from my trip last weekend to Punta del Este, Uruguay, which was a great little get away. The trip involved a boat and two bus rides, but I got to pass through Montevideo which was awesome because for some inexplicable reason I've always wanted to be able to say I've been there.

I've been to Montevideo. Ha! Awesome.