Culinary Traditions Of South America: Argentina

By Samuel Murray


Argentina is South America's     Argentine restaurants, and are
second largest country,          national favorites. Empanadas 
snugly situated between the      are normally eaten baked or   
Andes mountain range, the        fried, and are often served at
Pacific Ocean, and the South     parties or festivals as       
American countries of Brazil,    appetizers. The dessert       
Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and   version of an empanada usually
Chile. Being situated in such    consists of brown sugar or    
a manner, Argentina is           fruit such as apples or       
exposed to many different        oranges.                      
cultural influences from all                                   
directions, including            In smaller cities, the        
countries all the way across     foreign influences of Spain   
the Pacific. Spain took it       and Italy are less apparent.  
upon themselves to permanently   Milanesas, thin slivers of    
settle in the country in the     meat dipped in eggs, bread    
late 1500s, and remained there   crumbs, and then fried in oil,
until Buenos Aires formally      are common fare in the rural  
emancipated themselves in        areas of Argentina. Their     
1853. One of the most            simplicity makes them great   
remarkable differences between   snacks, but they can also be  
Argentine Cuisine and exotic     served as part of a meal      
cuisines from around the world   piping hot served with mashed
is the heavy influence that      potatoes, or between two      
the cuisine of the Italian and   slices of bread as a          
Spanish cultures had on it.      sandwich.                     
                                                               
Startlingly enough, due to       The master chefs are more apt 
the influence of the Italian     to return to the more         
culture on the country of        classic, provincial style of  
Argentina, Italian food          preparing and cooking food,   
staples such as lasagna,         which bears more of a         
pizza, pasta, and ravioli are    resemblance to Mexican cuisine
commonly seen on the Argentine   than that of Italy. Bolder,   
table, at least in the           more intense spices are used.
country's major cities.          Calling forth once more the   
Unusually enough when it         Spanish influences in         
comes to Italian food, white     Argentina, Argentine cooks are
bread is also common, as are     famous for their tortillas;   
side dishes made of vegetables   unlike the Mexican version of
native to Argentina, such as     the tortilla the Argentines   
potatoes, egglpants, squash,     use potato dough, in contrast
cucumbers, and zucchini.         to the traditional Mexican    
                                 corn or flour tortilla.       
Argentina is also one of the                                   
world's leading producers of     Desserts are more popular in  
milk, wheat, corn, and meat      these areas, as well. Dulce de
including, but not limited to    leche which roughly           
beef, goat meat, pork, and       translates into Milk Jam, a   
lamb so naturally, these         sweet pudding of sugar and    
things are very common in the    milk, is a popular dessert in
Argentine dish. Argentine        Argentina. This lightly brown-
dishes are normally very high    colored pudding is eaten      
in protein, so grilled meats     alone, or stuffed in cakes or
are commonly seen on a plate     pies. Sometimes the treat is  
of Argentine food.               also crystallized into a solid
                                 wafer-like candy substance.   
Empanadas, pastries stuffed                                    
with meat or cheese, are also                                  
an Argentine favorite. They                                    
are commonly served in                                         

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