Argentina

A lot of food you can find in Argentina is just Italian food (pizza, pasta, etc.) or Spanish food (churros, flan) with little adjustments here and there. There's also influence from other European immigrants, and recently Peruvian restaurants have become popular.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but in Buenos Aires, some of the common Argentinean/South American-specific foods are:

-Dulce de leche: spread made by simmering milk & sugar. Tastes quite a bit like caramel, but not quite as thick.

-Milanesa: breaded steak

-Mate: made from steeping dried yerba mate leaves in hot water. Not uncommon to see two people walking around Buenos Aires switching off between drinking & carrying a thermos of hot water.

-Facturas: general word for pastry, including 'medialunas,' croissants. Often have chocolate, jelly, or dulce de leche.

Argentines are famous 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 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 (most Argentines have a relatively delicate palate and do not include chili in their version of chimichurri).

Breaded and fried meat (schnitzel)- 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 varieties - are a common sight for parties, starters and picnics across Argentina. Another variation is the "empanada gallega" (Galician empanada), which has a round shape and is more like a big, round meat pie made mostly of tuna. Vegetables and salads are important too for Argentines, even beyond the fried or mashed potato. Tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplants, squashes and zucchini are common sides.

Just as much as beef, Italian staples, such as pizza and al dente pasta, are eaten. 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.Alfajores triples, an Argentine version of the classic South American tea pastry.

Scones are also commonly served with jam and clotted cream (commonly known as a cream tea).

In Chubut, the Welsh community is known for their teahouses, with scones and Torta Galesa, rather like Torta negra.

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

Argentine food also reflects its European roots and sometimes tend to vary in certain reigions then in others.

A sweet paste, dulce de leche is another national obsession, used to fill cakes and pancakes, spread over toasted bread for breakfast or as an ice cream flavour. Alfajoresare 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 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 a mate 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.

Argentinians eat Asado which is like BBQ only sweeter and has no sauce, and they also have Empanadas which is some rolled up flour with meat inside or other condiments.

P.S. did you know that over in Argentina they have delivery ice-cream. You call an ice-cream place and they deliver the ice-cream to you and it doesn't melt.

lists of food Argentina eats

The Chilean Peso (El Peso Chileno) Exchange rate as of Sept 23, 2007

US $1, approximately 513 Chilean pesos.
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