Category Archives: tips & how to’s

My Favorite Argentine Wine: Pulenta Estate Gran Cabernet Franc

14 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in argentina, mendoza, tips & how to's, travel

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With our precious case of vino at Pulenta Estate winery in Mendoza.

With our precious case of vino at Pulenta Estate winery in Mendoza.

Malbec is typically Argentine wine’s claim to fame. But my favorite is a varietal I’d never even heard of before: Cabernet Franc. Although I’ve “tasted” (drank) a lot of wine over the years, I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a wine connoisseur or snob; I’m way too cheap for that. But I know enough that when I feel the need to remark on the deliciousness of every sip, it’s something special.

We discovered this red gem on a wine tasting tour in Mendoza last year, where one of the stops was Pulenta Estate. From the moment we were introduced to the Gran Cabernet Franc, both Gaspar and I were obsessed. So much so that we stopped by the winery on our way from Buenos Aires to the Chilean coast, just to pick up a case. What strikes you from the start is the fragrance of red pepper, which seems so odd but is actually really subtle and delicious. The taste is smooth, spicy and buttery. It’s a wine that demands to be savored.

Pulenta Estate Collage

According to the tasting notes on Pulenta Estate’s website, “This wine offers a deep red-purple colour, with an intense aroma of red pepper, eucalyptus and spices. Once in the mouth, it is sweet and pleasant due to the presence of round, ripe and soft tannins. Its 12 month aging in new French oak barrels grants it an elegant and long finish.”

You know, if that means anything to you. My tasting notes simply read: delicious!

If you’re in Buenos Aires, you can order Pulenta Estate Gran Cabernet Franc 2009 from Grand Cru. In other cities/countries, check their website for locations/distributors. I’ve already emailed the USA distributors to determine how I can get my hands on some once we’re back! If you’re lucky enough to be traveling to Mendoza, definitely check it out in person, plunk down the cash for a case…and give it to me.

PULENTA ESTATE WINERY – Ruta Provincial 86. Km 6,5. Alto Agrelo. Luján de Cuyo. Mendoza. Argentina.

Learning to Cook Seafood in Chile (aka, A Cry for Help)

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in algarrobo, chile, tips & how to's, travel

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Pulpo a la Plancha

Pulpo a la Plancha from Sur Patagónico in Santiago, Chile

I’ve often lamented the lack of delicious, fresh seafood in Buenos Aires. Despite the city’s location on the Atlantic coast, seafood’s not always a common sight on restaurant menus. Sure, there are some gems like Crizia where you can find oysters and fish beyond merluza, but they’re not the norm…and certainly not always budget-friendly. And buying seafood to make at home can also be a challenge. The fish markets in Barrio Chino are affordable, but quite the hike from San Telmo. El Delfín is a great pescadería within walking distance, but paying $100 pesos for two servings of salmon is a tad too rich for my blood.

That is why we were freaking out over all the frutas del mar during our recent roadtrip to the coast of Chile. We spent some time in the beach town Algarrobo, overdosing on seafood. I’m happy to report that every single restaurant we entered had a robust selection, and the pescaderías were plentiful and affordable.

Pelicans outside the pescadería in Algarrobo

Pelicans outside the pescadería in Algarrobo

When we’re on the road, we try to cook for ourselves as much as possible to keep things healthier and cost-effective. The thing is, cooking seafood is not my specialty. So these were experiments, which I’m happy to report turned out quite well.

We cooked our fish fillets on the grill, wrapped in foil with butter and plenty of lemon slices. They were super quick and easy, and crazy flavorful. Win!

Fish Fillets on the Grill

And then we got ambitious. We picked up some machas (razor clams), which we’d been spying everywhere and which made our little cabaña smell absolutely heinous for the rest of our stay. And of course, once we had them in our possession, we realized we had zero clue what to do with them. After searching the internet using the painfully slow and completely unreliable WiFi connection, there were conflicting reports. Some sites advised hours worth of scrubbing, rinsing, soaking and repeating. Some advised soaking in salted water, or water with cornmeal to draw out the sand. Still others advised that if shells were open, we should knock on them and if they don’t close, they’re bad. This was all way more labor and stress than I’d had planned for my vacation, thank you very much.

Machas - Razor Clams

I ended up scrubbing them and soaking them for an hour or so in salt water before deciding to just crack them open and rinse them out by hand, dammit. I’m sure this is some sort of seafood cooking no-no, but I’m really glad I did it. The sand was completely embedded throughout those bad boys, and we would have been crunching our way through dinner. After a good rinse, I put the clams on their half shells in foil, with crushed garlic, chopped onion, some butter, and beer. We wrapped them up so there was space for steam, but made sure they were shut tight, and cooked them over the grill for about 5 – 10 minutes. The one thing I was sure of was that overcooking these suckers would have resulted in a rubbery chewy mess that would make me regret the hours spent on preparation. Luckily, the timing was perfect, and the machas were a success.

Razor Clams on the Halfshell

My ultimate takeaway is, razor clams are a bit more labor intensive than they may be worth. They were good, but the sauce really made the difference. The clams themselves, for all their stinking when raw, didn’t have a very powerful flavor. And all that preparation works up an appetite that won’t be satiated by those tiny pieces of clam-flesh. Still, it was worth the effort for the experience. The moral of the story is this: I need your tips, suggestions and recipes for cooking seafood on the grill or open flames if we’re going to survive three months on the road.

Dining Out in Buenos Aires: Useful Words & Phrases

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in argentina, buenos aires, etiquette, restaurants, tips & how to's, travel

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Menus at Hierbabuena

For longer than I care to admit, I had a debilitating fear of ordering for myself at restaurants in Buenos Aires. My self-consciousness about my Spanish was overwhelming, prompting me to overthink every potential interaction and required response to the point that by the time the server arrived at the table I was completely tongue-tied.

Thankfully, those days are behind me, but the memory of my self-consciousness prompted me to put together this list of helpful words and phrases for beginners, so you can dine out in Buenos Aires with confidence.

First, some background to prepare you for the experience.

  • Many restaurants close down in the late afternoon. They may be open for lunch from noon until 4pm, then re-open at 8pm for dinner. Yes, that’s right my North American friends, be prepared to eat later than you’re used to.
  • Tipping 10% is customary. Many restaurants will charge a “cubierto” service charge – this is not the tip! It’s basically the cost of getting a table at their restaurant, or maybe the basket of bread? I’ve never really been clear on that.
  • Service is generally slow, if not otherwise atrocious. Don’t take it personally, it’s not you. Just sit back, relax, and try to enjoy the wait for your menu, your drinks, your food, and the bill. Make sure you’ve got plenty of time.
  • Many restaurants and cafés do not accept credit cards.

If all you can remember is “Vino, por favor!” you’re good to go. But just in case, here are some other words and phrases that may come in handy. This is by no means exhaustive, but covers the basics to get food in your belly. And keep in mind that some of the terms may be specific to Argentina or Rioplatense Spanish.

USEFUL PHRASES FOR DINING OUT IN BUENOS AIRES

“Excuse me…” = “Perdón…”

“A table for two, please.” = “Una mesa para dos personas, por favor.”

“What do you recommend?” = “Qué aconsejás?”

“I’d like to order ____.” = “Te pido ___ por favor.” Literal translation is “I ask you for ____ please”, which I know sounds super awkward to us Yanks, but it is what it is.

“Can I order food to go?” = “Puedo pedir para llevar?”

“Can I take the leftovers?” = “Puedo llevar las sobras?” But don’t be surprised if they look at you like you’re crazy or don’t have anything to package it in. This is not a common practice.

“The bill, please.” = “La cuenta, por favor.”

“Are credit cards accepted?” = “Se aceptan tarjetas de crédito?”

Have no fear! Order with confidence.

USEFUL VOCABULARY WORDS FOR DINING OUT IN BUENOS AIRES

appetizers: entradas

beer: una cerveza, un chopp (draft beer), un porrón (bottled beer), un litro (large liter bottle of beer to share…or not, no judgement)

the bill: la cuenta

chicken: pollo, suprema (chicken breast)

coffee: café, café con leche (coffee with milk)

dessert: postre

entrée: plato principal

fish: pescado; the most common are merluza (hake), lenguado (sole), and salmón rosado or blanco (pink or white salmon)

fork: tenedor

ham: jamón, jamón cocido (cooked, sliced ham), jamón crudo (dry-cured ham)

ice: hielo

juice: jugo

knife: cuchillo

menu: la carta

ground pepper: pimienta negra molida

napkin: servilleta

pork: cerdo, bondiola (pork shoulder), chorizo (pork sausage)

potatoes: papas, papas fritas (fries) puré de papas (mashed potatoes)

rice: arroz

salad: ensalada

salt: sal

seafood: mariscos

server: mozo/a

silverware/cutlery: cubiertos

soda: gaseosa

soup: sopa

spoon: cuchara

steak / meat: carne (check out this post from Wander Argentina for a list of all the various cuts); to request meat cooked rare: vuelta y vuelta, medium rare: jugoso, medium: al punto, well done: bien cocido. Rest assured, it will arrive at the table more well done than you’d wanted.

sugar: azúcar

tea: té

vegetarian: vegetariano

water: agua con gas (sparkling water), agua sin gas (still bottled water)

wine: vino, vino tinto (red wine), vino blanco (white wine), una copa de vino (a glass of wine), una botella de vino (a bottle of wine)

 

Anuva: Wine Tasting in Buenos Aires

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, tips & how to's, travel

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Vino

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. When moving to Argentina, I anticipated a bounty of two of my favorite things: steak and wine. I haven’t been disappointed. While the wine in Buenos Aires is plentiful and affordable, the area with the most well-known reputation for serious wine-lovers is Mendoza. Naturally, we went there as soon as possible, and loved it. The scenery is breathtaking, and the wine tours are (literally) intoxicating. I do recommend it.

But Mendoza is far. Getting there can be time-consuming and pricey. And while touring the vineyards and bodegas was fascinating, the process of actually tasting and appreciating the wine didn’t seem to be a big focus on our tour. I’m not sure we did much more than swirl and ingest. And much more of the latter than the former.

Enter, Buenos Aires’s own Anuva Wines. Anuva is essentially a wine club, dedicated to hand sourcing limited production wines from South America. They host intimate wine tasting events in Palermo, introducing visitors to high-quality wines from small wineries, many of which barely export and are extremely limited in production.

Their wine tastings are offered at a variety of days and times, and we opted for a 2pm Saturday tasting because we day-drink like that. We were lucky enough to book a time with Cara as our host, who we’d first met over a delightful dinner at NOLA Buenos Aires. She knows her stuff. And she provides detailed background on wine regions, characteristics, and processes in a simple and approachable way, without making you feel at all ashamed for previously viewing Two Buck Chuck as a special occasion wine.

Each wine was truly unique, and came with a food pairing to complement and enhance the flavors.

Champagne and a toast point with blue cheese, sour cream, arugula and walnut

Hom Espumante, an extra brut sparkling wine, was accompanied by a toast point with blue cheese, sour cream, arugula and walnut.

Torrontés and strawberry and peach sorbet from Persicco

Carinae Torrontés paired with strawberry and peach sorbet from Persicco

Salame & Cheeses

Mairena Bonarda served with spicy salame and cheese picadas

Malbec and an empanada

San Gimignano Malbec paired with a Salteña-style empanada

Blend and chocolate amargo from Fénix

Caluna Blend (malbec, cabernet sauvignon and merlot) served with chocolate amargo from Fénix

As you can see, while the emphasis isn’t necessarily getting bien pedo, there is plenty of vino to be had and you’ll not be left wanting for heavier pours. By the end of the afternoon we were feeling pleasantly chatty, yet 100% functional without the threat of a hangover by late evening. The perfect balance. And I learned a LOT. The highlight for me was getting more background on Torrontés and Bonarda, two wines I’d been completely unfamiliar with before arriving in Argentina and which I now plug shamelessly to whomever will listen.

Overall, a great experience, and one I’d highly recommend for residents and tourists alike.

ANUVA WINES – visit their website for the details on the wine store, wine club and booking wine tastings.

Can’t Live Without My Garlic Press

13 Monday Aug 2012

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It’s pretty obvious from my cooking that I’m a huge fan of garlic. It’s a relationship that has grown better over time. I recognize now that it started out on questionable terms, because I hadn’t yet come to understand and appreciate its true potential.  It all began with my heavy use of garlic powder. (Like I said: questionable). But it was easy, it was cheap, I was in college. What can I say? I slowly progressed to buying jars of pre-minced garlic, which was a step in the right direction. Then I finally bought a garlic press, and a whole new dimension of flavor revealed itself.

As someone who looooves me some garlic, I cannot believe it took me this long to see the light. If you’re taking a shortcut with garlic, stop yourself. You’re busy, garlic is stinky, wah wah wah. Just stop. The difference you will see in your cooking is no joke. This excellent garlic press from Pampered Chef even makes it easy to mince the garlic and clean up without ever having to touch the stuff. Now, I cannot function in the kitchen without this thing.

Am I alone in my ability to obsess over such things, or is there a kitchen tool you would be lost without?

¿Cómo se dice…? Fruits and Veggies

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, tips & how to's

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When you love to cook, moving to a country where you don’t speak the language can turn what used to be a simple trip to the grocery store into utter agony. Even after a year, many hundreds of hours of Spanish lessons and daily trips to the mercado, I still do a lot of pointing and asking, “¿Qué es esto?“.

The fact that different Spanish-speaking countries have different names for the same items also complicates things in my brain. You think you’re shopping for aguacates and fresas? Oh noooo, my friend, those are paltas and frutillas in castellano rioplatense. So for any new arrivals or those who are just starting to venture out to the verdulerias, here’s a list of some of the most common fruits, vegetables and herbs you may be attempting to purchase and their corresponding names in the region. For a complete list of kitchen and cooking terminology, check out NOLA Chef’s Kitchen Dictionary.

FRUITS, VEGETABLES & HERBS IN  ENGLISH & SPANISH / FRUTAS, VEGETALES & HIERBAS EN INGLÉS Y CASTELLANO

apple: la manzana

artichoke: el alcaucil

arugula: la rúcula

asparagus: los espárragos

avocado: la palta

banana: la banana

basil: la albahaca

bay leaves: las hojas de laurel

beans: las chauchas

beets: las remolachas

blueberry: el arándano

bok choy: el bok choy

broccoli: el brócoli

brussels sprouts: los repollitos de bruselas

cabbage: el repollo

cabbage (Napa): el repollo japonés

capers: las alcaparras

carrots: la zanahoria

cauliflower: la coliflor

celery: el apio

cherry: la cereza

chickpeas: los garbanzos

cilantro: el cilantro

coconut: el coco

corn: el choclo

cucumber: el pepino

dates: los dátiles

eggplant: la berenjena

endive: la endivia

fig: el higo

garlic: el ajo

ginger: el jengibre

grapefruit: el pomelo

grapes: las uvas

kiwi: el kiwi

leek: el puerro

lemon: el limón

lentils: las lentejas

lettuce: la lechuga

lime: la lima

mango: el mango

mint: la menta

mushrooms: los champiñones, los hongos

onion: la cebolla

onion (red): la cebolla morada

orange: la naranja

orange (mandarine): la mandarina

oregano: el orégano

parsley: el perejil

passion fruit: la maracuyá

peach: el durazno

pear: la pera

peas: las arvejas

pepper (bell varieties: green, red, yellow): el morrón (verde, rojo, amarillo)

pineapple: el ananá

plantain: el plátano

plum: la ciruela

pomegranate: la granada

potato: la papa

pumpkin: la calabaza (also means squash)

prune: la ciruela pasa

radish: el rábano

raspberry: la frambuesa

rosemary: el romero

rhubarb: el ruibarbo

sage: la salvia

shallots: los chalotes

spinach: la espinaca

squash: la calabaza (also means pumpkin)

strawberry: la frutilla

sweet potato: la batata

thyme: el tomillo

tomato (normal): el tomate redondo

tomato (Roma or plum): el tomate perita

tomato (cherry or grape): el tomate cherry

turnip: el nabo

watermelon: la sandía

zucchini (round): zapallito redondo

Okay, what am I missing? What am I saying wrong while the friendly verduleros just humor me? Where did I get the artículos incorrect? Your additions, suggestions and corrections are invited and welcome. Happy healthy shopping!

There’s No Substitute for Good Chocolate. Or Is There?

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, tips & how to's

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Hellooo, lovah. Order yours here.

I love chocolate. I mean, who doesn’t love chocolate? Show yourselves, freaks! Of course, Buenos Aires is most well-known for dulce de leche, which is also highly lovable. But when it comes to chocolate, there’s just no substitution. So this can present a problem.

One of the challenges I’ve run into here is the lack of high-quality chocolate. Unsweetened baking chocolate is not the sort of thing you can find at the corner supermercado. Cocoa powder can be found at some dieteticas and in Barrio Chino, but I quickly realized the cocoa-to-cornstarch ratio in those packages was highly suspect. A flourless chocolate cake that only mildly tastes of chocolate? Completely unacceptable!

I tapped into the ex-pat foodie network for suggestions (thanks again, ladies!) and definitely plan to check out Fénix products soon, as well as casa de repostería Doña Clara based on this rave review from Kelly Volman. Though if I were basing my judgement solely on the cultural sensitivity of Doña Clara’s website, I may have put off that trip. I mean….?

Of course, there’s also the option of stocking up on quality chocolate when we visit the States, or enlisting incoming visitors to flaunt customs regulations and smuggle in some of the good stuff. Yes, I will do that. And no, I have no shame. But I really wanted to find a way to work within the confines of what’s readily available. So I’ve been experimenting.

Probably the most well-known substitute when a recipe calls for unsweetened baking chocolate is the trusty cocoa powder trick. Basically:

3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder + 1 Tablespoon of fat (butter, oil or shortening) = 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate

But when your cocoa powder tastes more like flour than chocolate, this isn’t gonna fly.

Cocoa powder, eh? LIES!

Instead, I’ve found that with a little mathematical MacGyvering, substituting bittersweet chocolate for unsweetened yields the best, most chocolatey results. This substitution requires WAY more math than I’m typically willing to attempt, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Essentially, you need to figure out how much additional bittersweet chocolate you need to add to the recipe to arrive at 100% chocolate, and then reduce the amount of sugar that’s added to the recipe accordingly. Confused yet? Yeah, me too.

To make things easier on myself, and because I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as “too much chocolate” I’ve simplified this a bit. The most common bittersweet chocolate I’ve found is 60% cacao. So here’s my formula:

Multiply the amount of unsweetened chocolate by two to determine how much bittersweet chocolate to use. (Ex: If recipe calls for 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 6 x 2 = 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate).

Reduce the amount of sugar added to the recipe by 1 Tablespoon per ounce of bittersweet chocolate. (Ex: For 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, reduce the sugar added by 12 Tablespoons, or 3/4 cup).

This is by no means scientific. Some may also recommend you adjust the amount of fat (butter, oil or shortening) you use in the recipe. But I’m already biting off more math than I can chew with the above method, especially considering the chocolate here is sold in grams instead of ounces so that requires more conversion magic. This version’s never failed me for cakes, brownies or frosting…so I’ll leave the perfectionism to the math nerds.

DIY: Vanilla Extract

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in recipes, tips & how to's

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A few years back, I read a piece in Food & Wine about making your own vanilla extract and knew I had to give it a try. Why would someone want to do this?

  1. Real vanilla extract is expensive.
  2. It’s very self-satisfying and gives you an (admittedly modest) feeling of accomplishment.
  3. You can drink the leftover liquor.

If you’re not convinced by at least one of the above, we’ll most likely never be friends.

This is so, so easy. Buy some whole vanilla beans. I’ve found 5 – 10 works best, depending on the size of your bottle. Put them in a clean glass bottle and cover with vodka or light rum. Cork the bottle and put it in a cool, dark place. Five to six weeks later, you have beautiful, fragrant vanilla extract.

If you’re not sure where to find these things, I got all my supplies at World Market (a.k.a. the most glorious store EVER) when I was living in Chicago. Now that I live in the Land of Restricted Imports, I must bide my time until vanilla beans make a magical, temporary and most likely grossly overpriced appearance in a dietetica nearby. (Sidenote: If anyone in Buenos Aires knows where I can find whole vanilla beans, let a girl know! Barrio Chino and Tigre have failed me.)

UPDATE: Vanilla beans (vainilla en chaucha or ramas de vainilla, depending on who you ask) have been found in Buenos Aires! Check the puesto selling spices at Mercado San Telmo, he was selling them for $14 ARS each. Not bad at all.

Anyhow, I’d post a picture of the final product, but somehow didn’t think to document it in all its glory before we had to part ways. When packing one’s life for a move to another hemisphere, a bottle of vanilla extract doesn’t make the cut, even for me. But trust me when I tell you it was a thing of delicious-smelling (and tasting) beauty.