Rowdy folklore and dancing, skillful horsemanship, manly gauchos (Argentinean cowboys), inexhaustible amounts of grilled meat, empanadas, and other regional foods, fairly priced and beautifully handcrafted arts & crafts. Oh, yes. I do love the Feria de Mataderos. It’s one of my favorite Sunday activities in Buenos Aires. Watch our video to see if you want to add Mataderos to your list of things to do in Buenos Aires.

John and I went to the fair with an Argentinean friend and one of our long-term guests staying in The Pad. It was the first time any of them had gone. Sole laughed when I asked if she’d been to the fair before. “No, that’s for tourists, not porteños,” she said. Once we arrived, she realized her mistake. There are a few tourists, only those who’ve found the one paragraph most guidebooks devote to the fair or those who know someone here who has recommended it. But these are not your average tourists. Though we also didn’t see many average porteños (Buenos Aires locals) at the fair either.

That’s a large part of the beauty of the weekly Feria de Mataderos. It’s a neighborhood fair held for people who love folklore (Argentinean folk music) and it’s unlike anything you’ll find in the city.

Mataderos (i.e., Slaughterhouses)

Map of the barrios of Capital Federal

The neighborhood the fair is named after, Mataderos, is where the city meets the country. It’s one of the last barrios (neighborhoods) still inside the district of Capital Federal and in the past this was where the cattle was brough in from the provinces to be slaughtered and distributed to the rest of the country. In fact, Mataderos means slaughterhouse in Spanish. This neighborhood is also called Nueva Chicago because it share its slaughterhouse role with its U.S. counterpart.

Smoke from the grills and a stack of chorizos.

While the slaughterhouses have moved elsewhere, the fair is packed with parillas (grills) and loads of meat. Just look at the smoke hovering above the stands and under the trees in our opening shot of the video and you’ll get the idea.

My favorite part is the music and dancing on and around the stage in the main plaza. The Sunday that we went was El Día del Niño (The Day of the Children). There were groups of kids performing traditional zambas and chacareras (Argentinean folklore rhythms) on stage.

Dancers performing a zamba on the main stage.

I love how the boys in the chacarera show off their fancy footwork. And the handkerchiefs in the zamba with the girls’ flowing skirts, their rounded arms and slight embraces is just beautiful. The group of younger kids (mostly girls) in the video are playing the traditional drum of folklore. It’s called a bombo legüero and these kids were fantastic.

Gaucha, clapping to the rhythms of folklore.

Around the stage you’ll see plenty of other couples dancing, too. Some are dressed in traditional gaucho wear; others are in boots and jeans. I don’t really know the steps, but I’ve often been invited to dance with a local and it’s not that difficult to fake some ability to dance if you watch the women next to you and just do as they do. Jump right in if the urge hits you.

Gaucho Culture

Gorgeous gaucho stirrups.

The fair really is a celebration of guacho culture. Just down the road from the main stage you’ll see gauchos on horseback in full gear. Beautiful gear. Their stirrups look nothing like the ones you see back in the States. Gaucho pants are called bombachas (which incidentally is also the word in castellano for underwear). They use either a sash-like belt or a leather one with fancy medallions and typically have a knife tucked in at their back.

La Carerra de Sortija, or the Race for the Ring.

At about 3:00 pm, a group of gauchos will start warming up on Av. Lisandro de la Torre for the Carerra de Sortija (Race of the Ring) where they’ll race their horse down the road, standing up as they reach a metal frame with a small ring dangling from it. The idea is to use the stick in their hand to pull off the ring. It’s pretty impressive.

Agustin, the youngest gaucho, races for the ring.

As is fitting for El Día del Niño, in our video only the youngest gaucho actually grabbed the ring.

Street Food: What to Eat

The asador tending to the barbecue.

The fair offers some of the best regional food in the city. But don’t expect to be able to ask for your steak to be cooked medium rare. The meat is slow-cooked with lots of hands tending the fire. You might want to try the vacíopan (flank steak sandwich) or the choripan (sausage sandwich). There are plenty of other options, too.

Stuffing the homemade empanadas.

Homemade empanadas, little half-moon pies stuffed with meat, or chicken, or corn (called humita here), or ham and cheese, or onion and cheese. If you want something more hearty try the locro (a corn-based stew which sometimes has tripe) and tamales(corn dough filled with a shredded meat stuffing and wrapped in husks; tamales here are never spicy).

Damon digs into some locro.

In the main plaza, behind the stage, there are lots of tables and chairs where you can actually sit down and have a glass of wine or a beer with your street food. And, of course, there are several restaurants with outdoor tables all along the streets of the fair. The food there is pretty much the same as in the stands, but you’ll have a waiter and you can sit and watch the show or the people for as long as you like.

Shopping: What to Buy

It reads, "Hold on to me tight and suck on me slowly."

Another great reason to go to the Feria de Mataderos is to buy gifts to bring back home. The prices are much better than in the city and you’ll find a lot of traditional Argentinean arts & crafts that you won’t see elsewhere. Maté cups (cups traditionally made from gourds used for the ubiquitous tea-like infusion gauchos drink) and bombillas (the metal straws with a filter that you drink maté through), handcrafted knives with elaborate details, ponchos made from llama or alpaca, cool wine racks made from horseshoes, handcrafted jewelry, toys, and candles, you name it.

Handmade jewelry stand at the fair.

There are also a lot of stands filled with local foods like cheese, alfajores (traditional cookies that are like a shortbread sandwich with caramel in the middle), marmalades and preserves, liquors made from eggs or chocolate or even dulce de leche liquor. And if you think you might want to buy some gaucho bombachas, this is the place to do it. Way better prices than in the touristy shops in the city.

When The Fair Takes Place

The fair takes place every Sunday (from April through December) and on Saturday evenings starting at 6:00 pm during warmer months (in February and March). It’s closed in January.

Getting to Mataderos

It’s a bit of a hike (close to an hour bus ride) to get out to Mataderos. If you’re in the Palermo area, you can take the 55 bus. If you’re in San Telmo, you’ll need to get to Retiro first and then take the 92.

You could also take a taxi if you don’t want to try the bus routes. Our taxi from San Telmo cost us roughly 40 pesos (at 10 pesos each it was probably worth it to get us out there early). We took the 92 bus back to Retiro when time was not an issue. I also just ran across a review on Trip Advisor written by a guy here in Buenos Aires that offers trips to the fair in his Lincoln Town car.

Other Blogs on Mataderos

Buenos Aires Tours has a great post about the Feria de Mataderos and some videos of gauchos in the Carerra de Sortija. And another expat blogger, Sallycat, has a fun write up about her trip out to the fair which ended up being a trip to the neighborhood as it was summer and the fair wasn’t happening. And lastly, Travel with Pen and Palate Argentina has a nice post with some wonderful photos of the fair.

Have you been to the Feria de Mataderos? What was your favorite part of the fair?

Get out your blue and white (celeste y blanca) flags, it’s World Cup time! Actually, it feels like we’ve been surrounded in blue and white for months now since just a few weeks ago Argentina celebrated its 200th anniversary. There are some amazing photos here and here and here of the light shows on buildings, the parades, and the reopening of Teatro Colon, which has been closed since late 2006. The Bicentennial celebrations brought a reported 6 million flag-clad people to the city.

Where to Watch World Cup Matches

The crowds have left but the party is still going on. The government of the city of Buenos Aires called my home phone yesterday to let me know that there would be a huge screen in Plaza San Martin broadcasting the World Cup matches. Can you believe that? They call you at home. Then my buddy Naty called and told me that if I need to buy anything or have any work done over the next month, I should forget about it. No one will be working since the games will be during the day. Vamos, Argentina!

If you’d rather be inside, there’s a sports bar in Recoleta called Casa Bar that serves delicious buffalo wings and hamburgers. And if soccer isn’t your thing, Casa Bar also broadcasts the NBA finals. Oh, and there’s another advantage to going to Casa Bar. They have the widest variety of booze around. They even have Kettel One vodka.

Great Quilmes Commercials

With all these celebrations here in Argentina, we’re also getting some fantastic commercials. This first one is about the Bicentennial. Argentina’s most famous actor, Ricardo Darín (who starred in this year’s Academy Award winning El Segreto de sus Ojos) tells the story of Argentina’s most famous beer, Quilmes (with English subtitles).

Quilmes may not make great beer, but they definitely produce great commercials. And those poster ads from the 40′s. I’ll be out looking for them in San Telmo’s antique fair. Here’s one of the most famous Quilmes ads for the World Cup (with English subtitles).

Talk about a great way to learn something about Argentinean culture. These ads are sooooo Argentine. We’ll add more this week because they’re just too much fun to stop at one or two.

Do you guys know of any other places to watch World Cup matches?

John and I went to this adorable restaurant for lunch yesterday. Caseros is on Avenida Caseros which is really the last street in San Telmo before the neighborhood becomes Barracas. We’d passed this place a week ago on our way to the fish market in Barracas.

One way I judge whether or not to recommend a restaurant on our blog is to decide if I’d take people who are just visiting for a week to that restaurant. In the case of Caseros, I definitely would. It’s on my list now. And for more reasons than just the food (which was great).

Off the Main Drag

The walk over there is gorgeous. It takes you out of the main drag of San Telmo into the outskirts. The architecture and vibe on this side of the neighborhood is really cool. It’s more quiet. The buildings are elegant. Avenida Caseros has a green boulevard running down it, it winds around a corner and ends right at Parque Lezama on Defensa. Avenida Caseros, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful streets in the city. Every where you look you want to stop and take it in.

Gorgeous Ambiance

The restaurant, too, is pretty. It’s really pretty and calming and so dang San Francisco. Now that wouldn’t matter if the food wasn’t good. It was better than good.

The bread was amazing. Most restaurants in Buenos Aires serve the exact same bread. It’s white, tasteless, and just boring. Caseros makes its own bread. I even asked them if it’s possible to call and order a loaf or two to take away. They said yes. They served two types of bread, wheat and white. Both had the perfect texture. I could have gone there just for the bread really. In fact, when I go back, I’ll order something that I can dip the bread in, that’s how good the bread was.

Great Price for the Lunch Menu

The lunch menu (menu ejecutivo) is a great price and was really nice. For 36 pesos you get a salad and your choice of chicken or beef for the entree, and a coffee at the end. John got the lunch menu, I ordered pasta. We shared it all, of course.

I loved John’s salad. The dressing had a sort of oriental flavor, which is wonderful since most salads here are dressed with olive oil and lemon (which I also love but every once in a while you need something different). Big leaves of spinach with thinly sliced carrots and zucchini were topped with slightly charred chives. Delicious.

For the entree, John ordered the beef. Looking around the restaurant, almost everyone had the lunch menu and chose beef over chicken. The cut was colito de cuadril (which is called tri-tip in English) and it was grilled with quartered onions caramelized beautifully, thickly halved mushrooms slightly grilled, and cubed potatoes.

Menu Showed Variety and Attention to Ingredients

I ordered a plate of pasta, agnolottis (similar to tortellini) stuffed with pumpkin, served with a butter, sage sauce with bits of sun-dried tomato and thin slices of prosciutto on top. We both loved my pasta.

There were plenty of other things I wanted to try on the menu. I was excited about the appetizers, which included two of my favorites, ceviche, for 19 pesos, and mollejas, sweetbreads, for 21 pesos. I’ll go back just to try those two dishes. The menu isn’t huge. There are six appetizers and nine entrees. In my mind, this is a sign of a restaurant that pays attention to the quality of their ingredients. A concise, varied, and original menu usually means the kitchen staff knows what it’s doing.

I also loved that there were two fish entrees: one was the fish of the day served with sauteed vegetables and the other was a grilled steak of salmon served with garlic potatoes and a cucumber and celery salad. There were two pasta choices and several meat options including pork, rabbit, steak and lamb. Great variety on such a small menu.

Delicious Lemonade and Iced Tea

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the drinks. We didn’t order wine, although they had a very nice wine list with reasonable prices. Instead, I got fresh lemonade which came with mint and John ordered iced tea. It was like an iced tea slush than tea poured over ice, but it was great. It’s really nice to have some drink options other than water, wine, beer or soda.

And since it was lunch and we had to go back to work, we both ordered a cortado (small coffee with a dash of milk). It was one of the best cortados I’ve had in the city. Look at that foamy top and the little square of chocolate cookie with a touch of dulce de leche on the inside. I love how they serve coffee here in Argentina. Such elegance.

Food: Very Good ****
Ambiance: Beautiful *****
Service: Excellent *****
Price: Moderate (36 pesos for the lunch menu)
Barrio: San Telmo
Address: Avenida Caseros, 486
Phone: 4307-4729
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, lunch and dinner
Payment Methods: Visa or Mastercard and cash

It’s Easter weekend so John and I decided we’d go to our favorite fishmonger to see what looked good. Since it was Good Friday, and since Catholics (which most Argentines are) aren’t supposed to eat meat on Good Friday, the market was busier than we’ve ever seen it.

Look at that line all the way out of the door.

We learned about El Delfin from a restaurant we ate at a couple of months ago. It’s a great, albeit a bit pricey, restaurant in Puerto Madero called Chila. They had oysters on the menu and while we didn’t order the oysters that night, I asked the server if they typically have oysters and where they buy them. She directed us to El Delfin in Barracas.

Map to El Delfin from San Telmo

We’ve been to El Delfin a couple of times now. They don’t always have oysters, so if that’s what we’re looking for we usually call in advance. They had oysters yesterday and we bought a dozen or so. They even had fresh shrimp (not frozen and not already cooked). This is a goldmine find here since most fishmongers sell shrimp either frozen or already cooked.

Fishmonger, El Delfin, in Barracas

For dinner last night, we had raw oysters with a sweet sauce. The sauce was made with rice wine vinegar (1 cup), a minced shallot, 1 chopped tomato, one inch of grated ginger, sugar (1 tbsp), cilantro (1/2 cup), and fresh black pepper. They were amazing. We’ll cook the shrimp with garlic this afternoon and then grill calamari to go with them. It’s a real treat to find a great fish market just a few blocks away from us.

Oysters from El Delfin

If you’re here in Buenos Aires and staying in an apartment or vacation rental, keep El Defin on your list for one of the nights you plan to cook and hang out with some wine and music instead of heading out to a restaurant. In this land of beef lovers, great fish markets aren’t very common.

Seafood Empanadas from El Delfin

You might even want to just run over there for some of their exquisite seafood empanadas or a dish of paella. Look at these. They’ve got tuna, cod, octopus, calamari and several other varieties. It’s no wonder the line was so long on Good Friday.

Pulpo a la Gallega and other Fishy Dishes

Felices Pascuas y Buen Provecho!

Useful Information:
El Delfin Pescaderia y Marisqueria
Deliveries call 4301-6079
Azara, 99 (Barracas)
http://www.e-eldelfin.com.ar

I’ve had a tough week. To top it off, my highlight was going to be the Cat Power concert at Teatro Gran Rex which I went to Thursday night. It may have been the highlight, but it certainly wasn’t the highlight I was expecting. For me, the fun was laughing with my friend Naty and wondering what the concert would be like if only we’d been drunk or on some sort of drug.

At one point, Cat Power disappeared for what seemed like fifteen minutes and we listened to the band improvise the beginning of what should have been (and eventually, 15 minutes later) was the next song. Maybe she had to run to the bathroom, we thought.

Where'd she go?

When she reappeared all she said was a quick, “Sorry.” But when the song got going, and the next song did, and the one after did, they all sounded exactly the same as the first five we’d heard before Cat Power disappeared leaving us with a repeating electronic opening and purple lights, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was just too old to get this type of concert or if everyone else there was thinking the same thing: “WTF!”

Naty pulled her cell phone out of her bag to see if anyone had called. That can’t be a good sign for a performer. I, too, was no longer paying attention to the concert, I wondered if Cat Power is the type of singer that you can like at home because you can mix her up with other groups you like. I almost never listen to one group or album all the way through anymore. They’re grouped by genre or by my playlists which I carefully put together and have a variety of music that is similar, but by various artists. Could I ever listen to Cat Power and nothing else for over an hour?

Each time a song began I’d think, “haven’t we heard this one?” Then Cat Power’s incredibly smoky voice would remind me that I do love her music. I just don’t love it for hours on end. Finally there was a surprise, and for certain, the highlight of the evening. She sang a song in Spanish (here’s the setlist from the concert). It was the only song I felt she cared about all night. Her body language changed and she seemed to connect with the audience.

At the end, I think it was the most boring and strangest concert I’ve seen. It wasn’t just that every song sounded the same and that the songs I most wanted to hear weren’t sung. It was the fact that she made no attempt to connect with us. Besides the one “sorry,” after her disappearance, she never spoke to the audience. Was it because her Spanish is not great? Maybe, but I’d guess that the people who want to see a Cat Power concert understand some English. A simple “Hello, Buenos Aires,” and “thank you for coming,” would probably do the trick. Instead we were left thinking, “WTF?”

Back on stage.

On another note. If you go to a show on Corrientes, Buenos Aires’ Broadway, the place to head to after for a quick bite is Guerrin. It’s a pizza place, but more than pizza Guerrin is sort of a right of passage for theater goers in Buenos Aires. It’s not the best pizza in town, but it’s good pizza. It’s the atmosphere that brings in the crowds.

Pizza and Faina at Guerrin

There’s even a song about this right of passage by the Argentine rock band called Memphis La Blusera. The song is called Moscato, Pizza y Faina.

Here are the lyrics:

Las luces se encienden,
calle Corrientes,
se llena de gente,
que viene y que va,
salen del cine,
rien y lloran,
se aman, se pelean,
se vuelven a amar,
en la Universal,
fin de la noche,
moscato, pizza y faina,
moscato y pizza.

Translation:

The lights turn on,
Corrientes Street,
fills up with people,
that come and go,
leaving the movies,
laughing and crying,
they love, they fight,
they fall back in love,
in the universal,
to end the night out,
moscato, pizza and faina,
moscato and pizza.

Pizza y Faina

Pizza and faina is a common combination here in Buenos Aires. Faina is made from chickpea flour and often has herbs or onions mixed in with it. It usually comes on top of the pizza slice so you can cut through both and eat them together. According to the song, and to tradition especially at Guerrin, it’s best with a glass of Moscato.

It’s a rainy Monday in Buenos Aires. Luckily, there’s still plenty to do. Here’s our list of “Rainy Day Activities.” Many of these activities are the sort of luxuries I don’t usually allow myself when traveling since I’m on a budget. But a little treat on a rainy day is always welcome. Some of the others are free or cheap, for those counting their pesos.

1. Catch a Movie
   I love watching movies in other countries. Moviegoers around the world have different customs. For one thing, you can order your popcorn (popchocle) either sweet (dulce) or salty (salado) and you can also have a beer with it. But the main reason I like seeing movies in other countries is because our culture determines how we react, or don’t react, to different parts of the story.  I’ve often found myself laughing out loud when everyone else is silent and scratching my head when the people next to me are cracking up. You can find a list of cinemas in Buenos Aires at Time Out Buenos Aires.Another reason to go to the movies is that it’s a great way to practice your Spanish (castellano). If the movie is in English, it’s typically subtitled in Spanish. It’s two hours of entertainment and a language lesson all in one. And if you really want to test your language skills, check out a local film.
2. Visit the MALBA
   Museums sometimes make me sleepy. I think the maximum amount of time I can spend looking at art is about two hours. This is why I love the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires). The collection is just the right size for me. After wandering through the rooms, I could have still seen another room or tow. I wanted more because I got to see works from artists I’ve long admired like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and because I’d never even heard of some of the other artists like Antonio Berni, Jorge de la Vega, Joaquin Torres-Garcia (from Uruguay). The size of the collection meant that I had the time to stay, observe, take in, and enjoy the works without rushing to the next room because my niece was going to run out of steam. Even my 15-year-old niece loved the art.
   

   The MALBA Museum in Buenos Aires

   She did run out of steam before the rest of us. So, she went to the cafe to catch up on her summer reading. We found her there pretending to be a local and sipping hot chocolate. She couldn’t stop talking about how it was the best hot chocolate she’d ever had in her life. Then she begged us to stay there for lunch.

   

   Lunch at Cafe des Arts

   I was skeptical because museum food is often touristy and, well, bad. Not the Cafe des Arts. The chef, Jean Paul Bondoux, is from Bourgogne in France. Not suprisingly, every plate was fantastic. From the sandwiches with fresh salad and crisp french fries to the plate of pasta with mushrooms. It was all delicious.

   

   Arab Lamb Sandwich

   

   Croque Monsieur at Cafe des Arts

   

   Penne con Funghi

   The museum is open from noon to 8PM, Thursday to Sunday and from noon to 9PM on Wednesdays when entrance to the museum is free (they ask for a 5 peso donation). Otherwise, it costs 15 pesos to enter. MALBA is closed on Tuesdays. From Thursday to Sunday, MALBAcine shows artsy films starting at 2PM until midnight most days.

3. Hit the Mall
   I’m not much of a shopper, but shopping in Buenos Aires is a cultural experience and I’m all for cultural experiences. If it’s raining outside, you’ll probably want to take shelter in one of the many shopping centers. Here are the two I’d go to because you could spend the whole day there even if you don’t like to shop.
   I’d probably start at Galerias Pacifico because the turn-of-the-century building is gorgeous. The frescoes on the ceiling were painted by five Argentinean muralists.
   

   Fountain at Galerias Pacifico, by lrargerich on Flickr

   You can sit in the cafe down near the fountain and people-watch all afternoon, but the main reason I’d choose this shopping center is because on the top floor you’ll find the Centro Cultural Borges. There are art exhibits, live performances of music and dance, and showings of independent films. It’s open from 10AM to 9PM, Monday to Saturday and from noon to 9PM on Sundays. Tickets cost 10 pesos.

   The second shopping center I want to mention is Abasto. While I would prefer to go on a sunny day so that I could wander the streets of nearby Once, if you’re short on time and it’s raining, Abasto is a great option. I like Once, the nearby barrio, because it reminds me of the huge market in Cairo, although it looks nothing like it. But there are blocks devoted to textiles, others devoted to electronics, or to houseware, or to handbags. It’s lively haggling and full of energy. And there are some great Jewish delis in the neighborhood (try the empanadas arabes). Ok, so now that I’ve sold you on Once, let me sell you on Abasto.

   

   Abasto at Night, by Concepciones Relativistas on Flickr

   First off, you’d likely be the only tourist in the mall. Secondly, the building is amazing. Abasto is in the old tango district of Buenos Aires and the shopping center is housed in the old market, El Mercado de Abasto. It’s a very creative way to preserve old buildings whose purpose needs to be reinvented.

   

   Abasto, by puroticoricoon Flickr

   Years ago you’d find produce, meats, and flowers. Today, in this beautiful example of Art Deco architecture from the 1930s, you can find Nike, Puma, and many other brands. There are over 200 stores, likely the most diverse shopping center in the city, so there’s something for everyone. For more on the history of the area and the building, read the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide.

4. Get Pampered
   Well, why not? I’m the kind of person who puts off pampering myself. I say I’ll go, but I really only treat myself when someone else gifts it to me. That said, the only massage I’ve had in Buenos Aires was at Valle Tierra (it was a gift from my swamp sister, Natalia). The massage was excellent. I also liked the decor. It was calming, but not sterile. The furniture, rugs, and pieces of art come from the northern regions of Argentina (think Santa Fe, New Mexico). Lots of earthy tones.

   A couple the stayed with us a few weeks ago on their honeymoon spent a day at AquaVita. After months of planning the wedding and a weekend of serious celebration, a spa was what they needed. They had very good things to say about AquaVita. But I found a review from the Times Online where a commenter had a less favorable opinion. Since the complaint was about the customer service, and since I know that the idea of customer service here in Argentina is very different from the US and the UK, I’d take that complaint with a grain of salt. Or better. If you’re going to a spa, focus on the facilities and the quality of the massages. Ignore the service because you may not be able to relax unless you do.

5. Have a Tea Party
   Indulge yourself at the Alvear Palace Hotel, one of Buenos Aires’ most beautiful hotels, for afternoon tea. this is a seriously decadent, albeit hoity-toity, experience. L’Orangerie is the restaurant in the hotel that serves high tea. Rule #1: ignore the snobby socialites looking at you because you are clearly nobody they recognize as important (besides, you are important, they just don’t know it). However, if fitting in matters to you, get dressed up and be sure to wear your pearls. Rule #2: only order one full tea for three or fewer people. One is plenty for three people.
   

   The Spread

   Rule #3: take your time. Just when you think they’ve brought all the goodies to the table and you’ve stuffed yourself full, out comes another plate.

   

   And then there's the cake

6. Browse Bookshelves
7. I love books. My sister’s attic is full of boxes of books I just can’t part with. One day she’s going to make me decide. To keep my book collection manageable, I now check the book out thoroughly before buying it.  I can spend hours browsing the bookshelves, flipping the pages, asking myself if I can live without this book. My favorite bookstores for a rainy afternoon are El Ateneo, in Barrio Norte/Recoleta, and Boutique del Libro, in Palermo. They offer very different experiences.

   El Ateneo is the most beautiful bookstore in the world. I’m not exaggerating. They took an old theater where tango was once danced and turned it into a massive bookstore, leaving the balconies, the stage, the lighting for the most part, and the magic.

   

   El Ateneo Bookstore in Recoleta, by longhorndave on Flickr

   You can have a coffee or tea at the cafe on the stage. I don’t recommend ordering food though. It’s mediocre, and that’s being kind. Check out Argentina’s Travel Guide’s write up on El Ateneo (by the way, Argentina’s Travel Guide also has a pocket guide BA’s bookstores in .pdf format which you can download here).

   If you’re in a more chill mood and if you’re hungry, I’d recommend el Boutique del Libro. The food is much better and it has a grab-a-book-and-a-cup-of-coffee atmosphere.

   

   Boutique del Libro on Thames in Palermo

   Plus, they’re usually playing great music. In fact, if you hear something you like, just ask the cashier in the music department what’s playing. The music selection isn’t large, but it is good. I could spend all afternoon here.

So, what are your favorite rainy day activities in Buenos Aires? Did we miss something? I’m sure we did.

Browsing through the Guia Oleo for restaurants I didn’t know in San Telmo, I ran across the listing for Les Anciens Combattants. We were in the mood for something different and Les Anciens Combattants was intriguing. The pictures of the house, the descriptions and reviews of the food, and the fact that it’s in an area of town we would typically avoid at night are why we chose it. My thinking was that if a restaurant can survive in that neighborhood, it must really serve excellent food.

Les Anciens Combattants on Guia Oleo

Constitucion is a rough neighborhood. When our cab driver stopped in front of the only house with lights on the street, I think JB and I both were wondering if we should get out or just head back to San Telmo. We rang the doorbell and waited. The waiter who opened the door asked if we had reservations, we did not. So, he explained in the fastest Spanish I’ve ever heard that they do have a table, but they don’t accept credit cards, only cash.

We followed him through a grand salon with beautiful wooden floors and high ceilings. He told us that he’d give us a tour of the house and tell us its history after dinner. The dining room is toward the back of the house, just before a huge open patio that must be amazing in summer.

Before dinner, we were served an aperitif, white wine with a bit of Cassis. The chef, Alexandre Sourou, comes to each table to explain the evening’s dishes (either in French or Spanish, but I translated from Spanish to English and Alex corrected me when I made mistakes).

Chef Alexandre Sourou Explains the Dishes

JB couldn’t resist the raw oysters. Fresh seafood is not easily found in Buenos Aires. And two Louisiana natives in a French restaurant in Buenos Aires are not going to pass up seafood, so I ordered the coquille aux fruits de mer. Both appetizers were amazing.

Raw Oysters from Patagonia

The coquille aux fruits de mer was packed with scallops, mussels, clams, and shrimp in a creamy gratin sauce that had just the right amount of crunch on top.

Coquille aux Fruits de Mer

We both ordered gamey main courses: stuffed quail and venison. You can find venison, lamb, boar, and quail in some restaurants here in Buenos Aires, but they aren’t very common. The preparation was beautiful and the doneness was perfect, as one would expect from a French chef.

Venison with side of veggies

Stuffed quail

Chef Alex has headed Les Anciens Combattants for roughly five years, but his father was the chef here for ten years and some of the recipes are his. The waiter, Lolu, likes to point out when the recipe is from Alex’s father. They are from the Toulouse area in France and a lot of the dishes have a Toulouse touch that’s unmistakable.

We don’t usually order desserts because we tend to not leave enough room, but the desert options sounded so good that we had to indulge ourselves. JB ordered crepes that were served with a bit of liquor and glazed orange rinds.

Crepes to die for

I ordered a dish created by Alex’s father, tomate confit served with a mint liquor and ginger. It was out of this world!

Tomate confit with mint and ginger

The wine list was about six pages long and had a nice variety of types and prices. Our meal came out to roughly 450 pesos (about $120 USD). The venison was almost double the price of the other entrees (about 70 pesos) and that bumped our bill up significantly. So while Les Anciens isn’t cheap, the average entree cost around 30 -35 pesos which means it you could spend a lot less and eat one of the best meals in the city.

After dinner, Lolu showed us around the house. He explained that it was built as a guest house for the Canale family that lived in Recoleta about 100 years ago. After the Second World War, it was used to house French soldiers (Argentine-French) who returned from the war. It’s worth it just to visit the house and have dinner in such a stunning setting, but add to that Alexandre Sourou’s talent and I say this is one of the best kept secrets of Buenos Aires. Bon appetit!

Rating: Amazing *****
Chef: Alexandre Sourou
Barrio: Constitucion (about a 10 peso cab ride from San Telmo)
Address: Santiago del Estero, 1435
Phone: 4305-1701
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, evenings (starting at 9:00)
Payment Methods: Only cash

Where do you take a newcomer to Buenos Aires to show him the grittier, more rustic, and way romantic side of the music I so love? La Peña del Colorado of course (we mentioned it in our list of Ten Things to Do in Buenos Aires). The live shows are great, but I also recommend staying later to see the spontaneous guitarists and drunken singers that stick around until dawn. Plan for a late night.

Last Friday we watched La Jury sing her heart out for over two hours. La Jury, whose real name is Luciana, is from Buenos Aires. She sings in the style called “canto criollo.” Here are the names of a few famous criollo singers from Chile, Argentina, and Mexico to help you get familiarized with the style should you want to study up on the style before getting here (Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Lhasa del Sela, Chango Rodriguez, Oscar Valles, Chavela Vargas).

At first, La Jury was accompanied by Carlos Delgado on guitar and vocals.

Midway through her performance, master guitarist, Carlos Moscardini, joined her. Amazing. Truly amazing.

My memory stick was full, which was a total bummer because Carlos Moscardini’s guitar playing coupled with La Jury’s amazing pipes was truly spectacular. But here is Carlos Moscardini on guitar. Wow!

La Peña del Colorado is located in Palermo/Barrio Norte on Guemes, 3657. Call for a reservation and ask for a table close to the stage. The show was scheduled to start at 10:00 but really began closer to 10:30 (as is to be expected in Argentina). It cost 25 pesos for the show, and we had some dinner, too. Now, let me say that I would not go to La Peña del Colorado for sophisticated dishes or the best of Buenos Aires (here’s the menu). But I love that it is so very typical. Typical parrilla fare. Very good empanadas salteñas. Yummy casseroles of pumpkin with quinoa and goat cheese. Traditional guisos or locro. Tablas of cheese, meats and olives. It’s not creative; it’s traditional. As it should be.

If you really want to do things the way the locals do, order a pinguino instead of a regular bottle of wine and ask for a bottle of soda to go with it. The pinguino is actually the shape of the pitcher that the house wine is served in. Because it’s not the greatest quality wine, Argentines often add a bit of soda to it. It’s like a sangria without the goodies. If you’re picky about wine, you might want to get a regular bottle first to have with your food and then switch over to the pinguino when your taste buds don’t care anymore.

When my mom and niece came to visit at the end of July, I wanted to make sure they would leave wanting to come back again and again. Since my niece, who’s 15 years old, mostly wanted to shop and hang out in cafes people watching, and my mom mostly wanted to check out the architecture, eat delicious food, and see some museums and churches, I had to find something to do that would be a hit with both of them. Hmmm… what do we all have in common? Ah, yes. We all love to cook.

I researched online and found the options for cooking classes in Buenos Aires to be pretty scarce. Many of the classes in the city were oriented towards professionals. I was looking for something more informal, more fun.

Cooking with Teresita seemed to be the right choice. Apart from having a variety of options, I loved that she was located outside of the city. Taking the train from the Constitución station to Adrogué was easy enough. Trains depart every 30 minutes or so and Adrogué is about 30 minutes away.

Adrogué is a colorful, elegant town. Its houses suggest it was inhabited by wealthy families who wanted to get away from the city.

We walked from the station to Teresa’s house where she teaches her classes. It’s clear Teresa was a school teacher for years before opening her B&B and offering cooking classes out of her home. Taught in English, the class was well organized and very hands-on and Teresa clearly loves sharing her knowledge of Argentinean cuisine.

We learned to make the filling for beef empanadas first. We sauteed the onions until translucent and then added the ground beef. Next came the spices. Here’s the full recipe.

Next we prepared the corn filling, which is called humita. It’s a combination of onions, bell peppers and corn off the cob.

While we let the fillings cool off in the freezer, my niece prepared the dough (while I talked, of course).

It took us a while to get our circles of dough as symmetrical as Teresa and her granddaughter’s were, but we watched and learned.

Next we stuffed the empanadas and closed them up. We used two types of closures: one for the beef empanadas and one for the humita.

Most places that serve empanadas will tell you which type of closure is used for each filling. In some places, they may have 12 different types of empanadas. Checking the way the dough is folded will allow you to pick the empanada you want.

Teresa explained that a lot of people prefer baking empanadas to frying them, but the fried ones are much tastier. She was right. Half of our stash were baked and the other half fried.

While both were delicious, the fried ones, sprinkled with a bit of sugar before being served, were amazing.

We sat out in Teresa’s back yard, where she has a cottage that serves as a B&B for those who want to get out of the city and take some of her more advanced classes.

A bottle of Trapiche Malbec, and a bottle of Trapiche Torrontés were served with our warm empanadas. The two women staying at the B&B joined us.

Our day in Adrogué cooking with Teresa was the perfect combination of learning about the food, the culture, and the wine while enjoying wonderful company and fantastic empanadas made by our hands.

Here’s a video that aired on German television Teresa teaching a group of Germans how to make empanadas.
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In May, we posted on the art of the Argentinean asado. Today we’ll look at how you can get your steak cooked to your liking. One would think that here in the land of exquisite meat, a simple medium, medium rare, or well done would do the trick. If only that were the case.

I find that Argentines typically overcook meat. Most people order their steak a punto (which should mean medium), but it comes out bien cocida (medium well).

Image Courtesy of Asado Argentina

I like my steak medium rare. Argentine friends have told me to ask for it jugoso (literally meaning juicy which sounds so much better than medium rare). The problem is that there is really no consensus here in Argentina about what the terms mean. When ordering jugoso, I’ve been served anything from rare to well done.

Image Courtesy of Asado Argentina

A few months back, I went to a little-known restaurant I’d been to before with a group of friends. The first time I ate there (back in October when it first opened), I had an amazing risotto with rabbit and vanilla. Strange combination. That’s why I ordered it and it was delicious. Everyone else I was with also raved about what they ordered. So when I had visitors of the sort that want to experience the food and wine here more than anything else, I thought this place would impress them. Wrong.

Three of us ordered medium-rare tenderloins. The waiter and I had this discussion (below), which truthfully should have told me that we shouldn’t order steaks.

Spanish version:

“¿Y que coccíon querés?”
“Jugoso, por favor.”
“Sangrante entonces.”
“No, jugoso. Entre sangrante y a punto.”

English version:

“And how would you like it cooked?”
“Medium rare, please.”
“Bloody.”
“No, medium rare. Between bloody and well done.”

One steak came out medium rare. The other two were medium well to well. Imagine, one chef prepares three steaks all ordered jugoso in three different levels of doneness.

The meat here really is amazing, so if you’re like me, you will want it cooked the way you like.

Image Courtesy of Asado Argentina

If your Spanish is strong enough, you might want to try describing how you want it prepared instead of using the terms for doneness. Here are some suggestions.

1. rare – rojo intenso y sangrante en el centro
2. medium rare – rosado con y bien jugoso
3. medium – a punto pero todavia jugoso
4. well done – bien cocida

We’d like to thank Asado Argentina for giving us permission to use these beautiful photos. Buen Provecho!