Argentine Cuisine - Popular Short-order Dishes

Popular Short-order Dishes

Common restoranes or restaurantes and rotiserias nearly anywhere in Argentina today serve (into the small hours) quickly prepared meals that in the course of the 20th century came to be known as minutas, "short-order dishes." Some of the dishes included in the category of minutas are milanesas, churrascos, bifes, escalopes, tallarines, ravioles (ravioli), ñoquis (gnocchi, although some are very typical of locations that sell food: "bifes a caballo" (beef steak with two fried eggs), "milanesa a caballo", "milanesa completa" (a milanesa with two fried eggs and a garnish of fries), "revuelto Gramajo", "colchón de arvejas", "suprema de pollo" (a kind of chicken milanesa), matambres, "lengua a la vinagreta" and "sandwiches" (sandwiches de miga).

The variety of sandwiches are nearly infinite. The most common are those made of milanesa, baked ham and cheese, pan de miga, toast, pebetes, panchos(hot dogs), choripanes, morcipanes, etc.; from Montevideo comes a different species of sandwich called the chivito, even though it contains no goat meat.

Picadas, which are consumed at home or in bars, cafés, "cafetines" and "bodegones" are also popular; they consist of an ensemble of plates containing cubes of cheese (typically from Mar del Plata or Chubut), pieces of salame, olives in brine, french fries, maníes (peanuts), etc.; picadas are eaten accompanied by an alcoholic beverage ("fernet", beer, wine with soda, to give some common examples).

The people of Argentina greatly enjoy helado (ice cream, sorbet, etc.). From the time of the Spanish colonies there has existed a type of sorbet made from fallen hail or snow.