Argentine Cuisine

A lot of folks, both back home and here in Argentina, have been asking me what I think of Argentine food. Diplomatically, I always say I like it, and then quietly addend, "it's different." Then people here ask what the traditional food is like in the U.S. "Toda la comida es frita, ¿no?" -- All the food's fried, right? I explain that the U.S. is such a large country that the food differs widely between parts. Sure we have hamburgers (synonymous here with McDonalds -- too bad these folks don't know Seamus McDaniels in Dogtown) and fried food (I always emphasize "the South" here and go on a tangent on how KFC's terrible and real fried chicken is different and tell them about hush puppies, fried catfish, and po' boys) isn't that traditional all over. So, then they ask my what the traditional food of my region is. For lack of a better reference point, I tell them that the historical location of American Thanksgiving is around 300 kilometers from me so that's a traditional, if not everyday representation of Connecticut food.

But the concepts of the U.S. always disturb me. Our president isn't very popular, and the media that we exude paints a negative portrait of U.S. citizens. Many Argentines think all Americans are cowboys, bigots (vis a vis Mississippi Burning), gangsters with gats (rap videos), drug addicts (rock videos), alcoholics (sit-coms), or fat slobs (Michael Moore). Everybody asks me if I like George Bush, if I own a gun, if I've ever been robbed, or if I like Argentina's Rock Nacional. (I think it's really bad). I don't have any solutions; I don't have any suggestions. And it seems that besides Hollywood, our largest cultural ambassador appears to be McDonalds which, incidentally, doesn't appear to carry chicken nuggets here. Perhaps they're reflecting the local tastes.

They do eat a lot of chicken and rice here. The food isn't just red wine and red meat, although that appears to make up the bulk of it. However, in the same way that you go to Memphis or Kansas City for barbecue, California for tofu and asian fusion, and Boston for it's shitty baseball team and clam chowder, you go to different regions of Argentina for their own traditional dishes. But, in the same way you can get a good burger or slice of pizza in any place in back home, you can get decent empanadas or milanesas anywhere in this country. Empanadas are a great on-the-go food, and I'll post up a recipe at a later date.

A Milanesa, derived from the name of the Italian city Milan, strikes me as a bastardization of the Teutonic Weinershnitzel. It's a thin, pounded, beef steak (or chicken cutlet) breaded and fried in oil. The Austrians use veal, and in the U.S. We'd call a milanesa de pollo (chicken milanesa) a fried chicken cutlet. Sandwiches of this stuff are so popular that they have their own name: milanga. The sandwiches often come with lettuce, tomato, cheese, too much mayo, and oddly a fried egg and slice of ham. They put fried eggs and ham on everything here. And way more salt than could be conceivable necessary. Milanesas are a staple throughout the country and are actually really easy to make.

Ingredients:
Thin beef steaks
Corn/sunflower oil (about 1/2 an inch or so in a pan)
3 eggs (beaten)
A bit of water
Salt
Pepper
Herbs
Bread crumbs.

1. Beat the eggs and add a bit of water and salt and pepper and herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, whathaveyou)

2. Put 1/2 an inch of oil in a pan and put on medium heat. When a pinch of flour sizzles, it's ready.

3. Pound a beef steak with the back of a frying pan.

4. Soak in beaten egg mix.

5. Dredge through bread crumbs.

6. Fry until a healthy brown color and then place on a plate with a paper-towel bed to absorb excess oil.

7. Repeat.

Note: You can prepare the milanesas a few hours in advance of frying them, but just toss them in the fridge until ready. You can also fry several at a time. Also, you may find your oil level falling. Don't panic; just add more.

Mark Potkewitz
La Quiaca, Argentina