Argentine Cuisine - Typical Foods

Typical Foods

Argentines are known for their high protein diet, particularly beef. Grilled meat from the asado (barbecue) is a staple, with steak and beef ribs especially common. Chorizo (pork sausage), morcilla (blood sausage), chinchulines (chitterlings), mollejas (sweetbread), and other parts of the animal are enjoyed. In Patagonia, lamb and chivito (goat) are eaten more frequently than beef. Whole lambs and goats can be seen on the asado. Chimichurri, a sauce of herbs, garlic and vinegar, is often used as an accompaniment. Unlike other preparations, Argentines do not include chili in their version of chimichurri.

Breaded and fried meats — milanesas — are used as snacks, in sandwiches, or eaten warm with mashed potatoes — purée. Empanadas — small pastries of meat, cheese, sweet corn, and a hundred other fillings — are a common sight at parties and picnics, or as starters to a meal. A variation, the "empanada gallega" (Spanish empanada), is a big, round meat pie made most commonly with tuna and mackerel ("caballa" in Spanish). Vegetables and salads are also eaten by Argentines; tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes, and zucchini are common side dishes.

Italian staples, such as pizza and pasta, are eaten as commonly as beef. Fideos, tallarines, ñoquis, ravioles, and canelones can be bought freshly made in many establishments in the larger cities. Italian-style ice cream is served in large parlours and even drive-through businesses.

In Chubut, the Welsh community is known for its teahouses, offering scones and torta galesa, which is rather like torta negra.

Sandwiches de miga are delicate sandwiches made with crustless buttered white bread, very thinly sliced cured meat, cheese, and lettuce. They are often purchased from entrepreneurial home cooks and consumed for a light evening meal.

A sweet paste, dulce de leche is another treasured national food, used to fill cakes and pancakes, spread over toasted bread for breakfast, or served with ice cream. 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 Martín Fierro's sweet. Apples, pears, peaches, kiwifruits, avocados, and plums are major exports.

A traditional drink of Argentina is an infusion called mate (in Spanish, mate, with the accent on the first syllable). The dried leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant (Ilex paraguariensis) are placed in a small cup, also called mate, usually made from a gourd, but also from bone or horn. The drink is sipped through a metal or cane straw called a bombilla. Mate can be sweetened with sugar, or flavored with aromatic herbs or dried orange peel to hide its bitter flavour. Hot water is poured into the gourd at near-boiling point so as to not burn the herb and spoil the flavour. 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 one for another guest. This is considered an important social ritual. 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 carbonated water known as soda); tea and coffee are equally important. Quilmes is the national brand of pale lager, named after the town of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, where it was first produced.