Category Archives: argentina

Buenos Aires Underground Market: The Recap

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in buenos aires

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Éxitoooooo!

I don’t think I’d be remiss if I said that most of the vendors, as well as the Argentina Independent, were overwhelmed by the success of the first Buenos Aires Underground Market this past weekend. With more than 700 people turning out on a chilly Saturday afternoon to sample homemade goods with origins from all over the world, I definitely wouldn’t be remiss in saying that it was a huge success.

We only had time to snap a few pictures before the mob scene began, but luckily there were plenty of incredible photographers taking advantage of the raucous, colorful photo opportunity. My favorite compilation thus far is in The Argentina Indy, where you can see that Gaspar and I spent some time sampling the fine artisanal beer before people worked up an appetite for dessert. There are also great pics on My.Beautiful.Air’s Facebook page. And the Indy posted a video of the event, which includes an interview with yours truly (God, does my voice really sound like that?) and some rave reviews from fans of the cake. Thanks, David and Luisa!

 

The event was so popular, another one is being planned for September. And because I’m a master-planner-aheader, of course I’m already plotting my revised menu. The Tres Leches probably needs to make an encore appearance, but I’d like to expand the options for next time. Stay tuned.

I discovered so many fun, like-minded folks creating delicious and creative comidas, it was well-worth the experience even aside from the fact that we sold hundreds of slices of Tres Leches in a matter of hours. Here’s a list of the other fine vendors from the first BA Underground Market, so you can get your hot sauce fix before September:

A Pickle de Nuñez
Boudicca
The Buenos Aires Bread Company
Las Cabrillos
Colectivo Felix
Il Mirtilo
Jueves a la Mesa
Kelly Poindexter
La Milagrosa
NOLA Chef
Nikita
One Day Cafe
Paladar
Polenteños
SAARG
Ronald Pronk
El Sibarita
Silvia Crespo
Taste-2-Go
El Tejano
Ya Ya Beans

A reminder to all those who attended, you can place orders for the Tres Leches cake using the contact form here.

Thanks again to The Argentina Independent for putting together such a great event!

Buenos Aires Underground Market

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, desserts

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Since our arrival in Buenos Aires last year, I’ve been a fan of The Argentina Independent due in large part to the fact that Adrian Bono’s Weekly News Roundup slays me. And because it’s in English, for quite a while it was my sole source of local news as it took me hours to decipher articles in castellano. In any case, those reasons aside I’m super grateful I found The Indy, because thanks to them I’m officially a vendor at the first ever Buenos Aires Underground Market! The Indy is organizing the event as both a fundraiser and a way for aspiring chefs, restauranteurs and artisanal culinary types to gain exposure to a large audience. The event is Saturday, June 9 at IMPA La Fábrica in Almagro. You can RSVP and get all the details on Facebook.

As soon as I heard about the Underground Market, I knew I was going to apply to be a vendor and exactly what I would be creating: Tres Leches.

Thanks to Lili Kocsis from My Amused Bouche for capturing this picture at the pre-tasting event.

For those who may not be familiar with it, Tres Leches is a cake of Latin American origins, though it doesn’t seem to have made its way very deep into South America. There are different variations, but it’s typically a sponge cake soaked in three types of milk; hence the name that even gringos can translate.

As much as I want to urge you to rush out and try it immediately, full disclosure: I’d never really cared for it much until this recipe came along. I’d tried a few different tres leches cakes, usually at Central American restaurants at the insistence of my father-in-law, who loves it. But I was unimpressed. It’s often too soggy, and the versions I tried were either cloyingly sweet or surprisingly bland. But a few years ago, Gaspar and I were spending Thanksgiving with his family and their friends in New Jersey. One of the guests baked a tres leches cake especially for my father-in-law, and I half-heartedly accepted a slice.

I died.

It was super moist yet somehow light, just sweet enough, had the perfect hint of vanilla and the topping practically floated on top. This was like no Tres Leches I’d ever pushed around my plate before. I had approximately three pieces (and perhaps a bit of wine) before not so tactfully demanding the recipe. I’ve closely guarded it ever since, though I’ve also made some modifications to suit my preferences and the availability of different ingredients.

But let the record show: Nubia Martinez, I bow down to your original Nicaraguan Tres Leches cake.

If you care to try it, get yourself to the Buenos Aires Underground Market on June 9 where you can also sample amazing breads, pickles, marmalades, cheeses and more. If that’s a transcontinental flight away, I may consider sharing the recipe in exchange for a pile of small, unmarked bills…or some advice on how to prepare hundreds of servings of tres leches cake in a small kitchen.

Hosting a Dinner Party, Buenos Aires Style

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, etiquette

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

Hosting our first Yanqui Thanksgiving in Buenos Aires. Yes, that’s a tuxedo t-shirt.

There’s not a whole lot I love more than hosting a dinner party. I’ve been playing hostess since grade school, so by now I can cook Thanksgiving dinner for 15 without breaking a sweat. Unless there’s a spring heatwave in Buenos Aires and the oven’s going all day…but even then, I prefer to see it as more of a glow.

Whether we were sitting on the floor eating out of our laps in Philadelphia, or seated around the dining room table in Chicago (like grown-ups, finally!), the dinner party protocol’s proven pretty standard over the years and miles. Plan a menu, invite people, they offer to bring a dish/dessert/wine, adjust the menu accordingly (or if you’re a menu control freak like me, just tell them to bring wine) and so it goes.

But then we moved to Buenos Aires. In addition to the fact that people in our beloved adopted country eat at an hour that most yanquis would consider freakishly late (most restaurants don’t even open until 8pm or later) I quickly learned that expectations may be a bit different here.

We were lucky enough to be invited to have dinner at the home of one of my husband’s co-workers before a night of salsa dancing, and she was kind enough to send me an email explaining in great detail how the night would go down. Seriously, she even advised me on proper footwear. LOVE HER!

She also let me know that there was no need to bring anything. Instead, the standard practice is for the host to take care of everything, advise the guests how much it cost, and we’d each be responsible for paying the host for our portion after the meal.

Say whaaa-?

Not that I mind whatsoever paying for my portion of a meal, and not that I mean to imply there’s a problem with this practice…but I just really didn’t know what to do with it. It goes against every fiber of my being to show up at someone’s home for dinner empty-handed. (We still ended up bringing a bottle of Fernet, I just couldn’t help myself). I’ve just always loathed the awkwardness of dividing up a bill after enjoying a meal at a restaurant with friends. Not to mention, I’m pretty bad with numbers in English. So in Spanish? Forget about it.

Why does this make me so uncomfortable?

To be clear, I recognize that this is simply a matter of different frames of reference. I have no problem accepting bottles of wine from guests, but if they offer me the equivalent in cash, it somehow gets weird.

But it’s totally the standard here, so as they say, “es lo que es” and I’ve gotten used to it. Comfort zone: departed. Horizons: expanded.

Though when I’m hosting we eat earlier, everyone’s instructed to bring wine and there’s no exchange of money. I can adjust to most of the customs here, but I just can’t bring myself to tally the bill for a dinner party. Yanqui hostess, yanqui rules.

Hostess gifts from our Thanksgiving dinner guests. No more drinking wine from plastic cups!

Chau, Estados Unidos

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in buenos aires

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Mercado San Telmo, my new go-to for fresh meats, fruits and veggies

Time to dust off the blog and get back in the kitchen. As one would imagine, in the span of two years quite a bit can happen. For example, one may find oneself uprooted from the glistening aisles of organic decadence in a vast Whole Foods in Chicago and dropped into a noisy mercado, staring at a gutted pig carcass and trying to wrangle ribs from a butcher in Spanish. (I swear to God it’s costillas de cerdo, yet somehow I always end up with pork chops).

Puesto 54 offers the best meats at Mercado San Telmo

No matter. After nine months of living in Buenos Aires I’ve learned to be flexible and creative when it comes to cooking, I’ve gotten used to shopping in five different places to track down the ingredients for one meal, and I’ve adjusted to the short storage life of foods that aren’t pumped full of preservatives. Chicken breasts really shouldn’t survive in a fridge for days, anyhow.

The ever-rotating selection of fresh fruits and veggies at the Mercado

When moving to Buenos Aires, I didn’t have a lot of pre-conceived notions about what it would be like. I’d never even been here before, and if I believed everything I read on the internet I’d have expected to be robbed and/or assaulted within the first few days. (If you ever want to scare the shit out of yourself before a trip, seek out the ex-pat forums for your destination. It’s cynicism on a whole new level, friends.)

Happily, nine months in I’ve yet to be robbed or attacked, unless you count getting fake money out of an ATM as robbery or dirty piropos as verbal assault, and I’ve really started to settle in and focus on enjoying the changes and opportunities our new life in Argentina presents. Bringing this blog to life is one of them.