Argentinian Cuisine

Gaucho cuisine

Gaucho cuisine is part of the Argentine national pride. Asado can be found in Argentina every weekend and is also common in the neighbouring countries of Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. So don’t be surprised if the streets of Argentina smell of grilled meat on Sundays, because in summer the asado is held outside on the homegrill or just on the street. A Parilla is a grill restaurant that serves almost exclusively asado. Argentinians usually eat their asado with white bread and chimichurri. If you are invited as a vegetarian, however, they like to throw peppers with egg or other vegetables – mostly uncut – on the grill. However, they are a little bit offended in their pride, because one does not want to try their grilling skills. During the week they usually serve milanesas (breaded schnitzels), lomitos (steaks) or hamburgers in sandwiches.
Mate is also part of the gaucho culture, but comes from the indigenous people. For breakfast there is mate or coffee and many an Argentinean continues to drink all day long until before dinner. But usually one is invited to a mate at tea time. There is the host who prepares, fills and passes on the mate. Like a peace pipe, the mate is then passed around in the round until the host finally thinks the water is too cold and the round is over. It is important that the order of the persons is kept and that the cup is drunk completely each time. Otherwise a complaint will be made. Some also put sugar or sweetener in the mate, but that is a matter of taste.

Argentinian-Italian Cuisine

The Argentinians are famous for their Italian cuisine. However, this is only a cheap imitation of Italian cuisine, which consists mainly of pizza, spaghetti, ravioli, sorentinos (in Italy they are called mezzelune), lasagna, cannelloni and Ñoquis (gnocchi). If the pasta is freshly prepared in the restaurants, it is not vegan but made with eggs. Even if it is not freshly prepared, there is a very high probability that it contains eggs. This is because in Argentina there is a misconception that real Italian pasta is made with eggs. Moreover, Lasgna and Cannelloni are unfortunately mostly not made of pasta dough but of a kind of pancake dough. What an insult to Italian food culture. The pizza is no less badly treated. Among other things, boiled eggs are put on the topping. Olives are only put on the pizza after baking, which is both very disgusting. Not to mention that the cheese, which is called Mussarela, is of course not mozzarella and the dough is usually too thick. Only in the pizzerias with the label Pizza a la leña one gets the thin wood oven pizza. In the whole South America, there is a probability that there is milk in the pizza dough. Whatever the reason may be?
Ice cream is also advertised as Italian. But this is really very close to Italian gelato. But you have to assume that it is made exclusively with milk. So not like in Italy, where chocolate ice cream is vegan because it contains coconut milk. However, you can also find sorbet in some ice cream shops.

Patagonian cuisine

Patagonia begins both in Argentina and Chile south of the 38th parallel. That’s roughly near Neuquén and Temuco. Patagonia is and has always been an uneconomical country, which is why many sheep have always been kept, much to the chagrin of Patagonia’s nature, because the bite of the sheep has uprooted many native plants, while in comparison the bite of the guanacos is gentler and the plants can continue to grow. Therefore, in certain areas, rehabilitation is underway so that plants like Calafate can grow again.
Despite everything, lamb dominates the diet here, in more fertile areas (lake district), where there is plenty of fresh water and forests, there is trout and game. On the coast, seafood and fish are on the menu. On Isla Navarino, giant sea crab and beaver are the speciality. North American beavers were introduced by man in the last century and are now an invasive plague as they displace the native animals. That is why there is a bounty on their heads. The Patagonian cuisine shows Mapuche influences. Examples are merken, a mixture of spices, and kallongka, also known as Mapuche chicken. Pecorino cheese and eggs are also part of daily consumption. Vegetables are generally rare in Patagonia, as they have to be imported from other regions. In Chilean rural Patagonia, you can usually get vegetables that were not sold in other regions, including avocados, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, apples and occasionally peaches. Around the lake area of Puerto Varras and Bariloche, the cuisine has also taken on a very German touch through the 19th century immigrants. Here you can find among other things many “German” cakes and sauerkraut.
But you can also get dishes from the other regions of the two countries. So pizza, pasta and empanadas are always available in Argentina. It is the same on the Chilean side with Completo, Pichanga etc. In larger towns there are foreign cuisines, such as Asian and Mexican.

What else is there in Argentina?

Besides the influences already mentioned, there are of course Spanish, South American and other influences from other continents. As for example the Empanadas that originally come from Spain. They are mostly filled with cheese, spinach and cheese, ham and cheese, beef or poultry. They are often spread with egg yolk. So they are sometimes vegetarian but very rarely vegan. Sandwiches are very rarely vegetarian. The north shows a Middle Eastern influence and in the northwest, where Argentina borders on Bolivia, one already gets dishes with influence of the Andean cuisine (see below). In the Argentinean cuisine, spices are hardly ever, if at all, seasoned with salt, Provençal (spice mixture of herbs and garlic) or paprika powder.
In large cities the vegan movement is slowly gaining ground, so that there are at least 2 vegetarian restaurants per city. Tenedores Libres are very popular and often in the hands of Asians, so the probability of vegan food increases.
Except for the fruit salad, Argentine desserts are only vegetarian and very very very sweet. These include pies, cakes, tarts and factoras (various sweet pastries). Dulce de leche, caramelized condensed milk sets the sweet tone. It can be found in the famous Alfajores. These are double biscuits filled with Dulce de Leche and covered with chocolate. Some dieteticas in Buenos Aires carry a vegan brand of Alfajores. Medialunas, the Argentine version of the croissant, are available sweetened and unkissed. They consist of yeast dough and are therefore not very airy. Humitas a la olla are not always made with milk, so just ask. But Humitas en chala always contain cheese.
Breakfast usually consists of coffee or mate with tostadas, manteca and mermelada, so not vegan. That’s why I recommend to choose accommodation without breakfast, then you’re in for some trouble.
Breakfast is around 9 am, lunch time is at 1 pm, tea time at 5 pm, dinner is after 8 pm (only few restaurants open earlier), locals usually eat after 10 pm.

Vegan dishes

  • Faina (can be vegan, depends on the topping)
  • Faina de Savona (can be vegan, depends on the topping)
  • Chucrut
  • Pan Frances (may contain fat from animal sources)
  • Chimichurri
  • Sorbet
  • Mate
  • Berenjenas asadas a la Parilla

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