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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
2 Comments To This Article… add one
April 4, 2010, 12:49 pm
Angela! What a great find. I wish we had been able to stop by while we were there, but being from Seattle, we were more interested in the steak while were in in BA. But I remember you guys lamenting the lack of great fish places in the city. Happy Easter!
April 5, 2010, 11:02 am
We’re really excited about it. I’d shown you guys that one fish market in San Telmo called San Antonino. For a while that was the only we knew of. There’s not much reason for us to ever go back to that one. Most of their stuff is frozen and already cooked. I guess that since Argentines don’t really eat much fish, they assume they don’t know how to cook it.
Happy Easter to you guys, too. Can’t wait to see some pics of the new house. Besos!