Argentina on Two Steaks a Day(2006)

Nobody here eats 2 steaks a day..anymore.. Their buying power has been reduced ( inflation here is 25-33% per year ) with salaries always lagging behind.

I moved to BA in 2006.. the dollar was 3:1. It's now 15:1. But again, with less power.

The avg middle-class person used to have weekly 'asados' aka bbqs at their home with friends and now most can't afford the beef. The really good beef is exported to 1st world countries ( and recently the US : http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/08/us/argentina-beef-ban-lift...)

Life quality however ( if earning USD ) is 4x what you will find in NYC ( where I grew up ).

From here I was able to bootstrap 2 profitable startups ( hiring local talent ) http://JuicyCanvas.com & http://POPteam.io

Live in a the best neighborhood in a 2k/sq ft house' and pay for a house-cleaner/nanny, 5-star health insurance, and top private school for my son. ( total 3k USD ).. the same exact lifestyle would cost 4x that in SF/NYC.

Hardest thing was leaving my friends,family, and learning spanish. But I'm significantly ...way happier.

I'm in Buenos Aires right now and that's pretty spot on. Beef is of incredibly high quality and it's incredibly cheap. I've been here for a couple weeks and will be staying until December (I've taken a year off with my girlfriend to travel the world). So far, I love it. The Spanish is spoken with an almost Italian accent, so I find it much easier to understand than, for instance, Chile's Spanish, which is impenetrable. One idiosyncrasy is that the double ll is not pronounced like a /y/ as in most other dialects, but like a /j/.

The wine is wonderful as well, provided you like the sort of big acidic wine that goes well with a nice hunk of meat. Luckily, that's my thing.

To be honest, if the economy and politics weren't so unstable down here, I'd consider buying a place. Unfortunately all weirdness with the blue dollar and the petty crime make it somewhere that I'll just keep on the radar.

Also, the thing he didn't mention when it came to booze was that this is the only other place in the world that Fernet Branca is distilled. Argentines drink the most Fernet per capita, as well as the most Coca-Cola (the second is related to the first).

Argentina is lovely, and not just Buenos Aires. Good god, the wine. You can have an incredible wine-tasting vacation in Mendoza or Cafayate. If you love the outdoors, there's Tierra del Fuego - which is also the jumping off point for Antarctica. There's more that's purported to be great, too.

At the moment, the key is to bring all your money in American dollars, and never touch a credit card - the official exchange rate is set by the government, and has no relationship to reality. Exchange your money into pesos on the black market, and an already affordable country gets even more so.

Yep, that's Argentina. I definitely agree with most of the author's points, especially the Argentine skittishness around seasonings and spices. The beef is fantastic without any embellishment, though. Two things that I'm surprised at is the author's lack of mention of the Argentine obsessions with mayo, and the separate but equally baffling obsession with ham and cheese (as a combo). I saw mayo abused very frequently when I was in Argie. I also saw ham and cheese plastered onto every menu.

"Items are preventatively glazed with sugar whenever there is be the slightest doubt as to whether they are supposed to be sweet or savory; this is what prevents the otherwise excellent Argentine croissants (medialunas) from being the king of breakfasts."

Ah yes, the heavenly medialuna. I don't consider them to be ultra-sugary, but they do have a lot more sugar than a typical croissant. I know my girlfriend (who is Argentine) is crazy for medialunas, and I quite enjoy them also. They're much more flavorful and properly sized (small) than other croissants I've had-- I even prefer them to the Parisian kind.

"Thank God, therefore, for the ice cream. When the Italians came here at the start of the century, they took one swig of the fine pampas milk and knew what they had to do. The ice cream in Buenos Aires is easily the best I have ever eaten, and the parlors that serve it are everywhere."

Yes. The ice cream in Argentina is heavenly, and they will deliver right to your door. The other icecreams I've had don't remotely compare. Definitely visit the chain called Freddo if you find yourself in BA.

"What Tim Horton's is to Canada, mate is to Argentina - a national obsession whose appeal is inexplicable to outsiders."

Mate is gross, and my gourd rotted away because I didn't cure it properly.

EDIT: But the coffee is sublime. Having coffee in Argentina ruined coffee for me... nothing else state side is remotely as flavorful and smooth.

For those predisposed to some vegetables there's this thing in Uruguay called a "chivito al plato". Here's a good representation: http://www.brisasdeldayman.com/historia-y-receta-del-verdade...

They don't skimp on the steak (despite the name "chivito" it's made with beef, not goat), or the ham, cheese, or egg. There are many fried potatoes on the plate as well. And they'll also throw on a huge variety of vegetables, fresh and pickled.

I ate many of these around my early teens at The Manchester in Montevideo.

My feeling with Argentinians has always been that they could easily come from the South of Italy and you would notice no difference. There is a very strong connection between Argentina and Naples too. It's amazing how an Argentinian and a person from Naples can feel more connected than, say, Naples and Milan.

The steaks in Argentina are indeed glorious, however feedlots are today actually the main way cattle are being raised. See John Torode in: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2i1imr

I spent 2 months in argentina and I ate enough meat and drank enough Malbec for a lifetime. 2 reasons: they were DELICIOUS and they were CHEAP.

I live in the USA and the dollar was strong vs the peso during my visit- so cheapness was relative to me but my Argentinian friends told me that they produce meat 10 their needs (they export the rest).

I loved Argentina. The funny looks and the rolling of the eyes when you ask for a side salad or worse, fries, with a steak. The half cow that they fling on the flaming parrilla (BBQ). So much meat and do much nice red wine. Yum.

Lovely welcoming people too. I'd love to visit again once my kids are old enough to stomach the flight from Europe.

Things you learn: Argentina had a lot of Italian immigrants. I was about to criticise the author for not crediting the Spanish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnography_of_Argentina#Itali...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Latin_American#Argentina

Just had myself an asado (barbecue) here in Buenos Aires the other day! :)

A few things about the culture and article:

The meat is not universally great. One has to find the right butcher- he will be a lifelong friend. Also, the chicken here is really pumped full of hormones, so I hear...

The good meat, however, is great. And it is given the proper respect it deserves. At a proper asado it is served without condiments and enjoyed by all. The asador is a hero when the meat is well-cooked.

I was surprised to find that people from Argentina love to drink beer along with mezze like we usually do here in the Middle East. Maybe this was the result of the influence of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants on their cuisine.

I was in Buenos Aires about three years ago, in the Palermo Hollywood area. And very much to our surprise there were a lot of vegetarian restaurants as well. One of which my wife and I still talk about how good it was. Regretfully I do not know the name anymore. It also seemed as if those restaurants were more expensive then the 'normal' ones.

I imagined Ron Swanson narrating as I read this.

I could only eat one steak per two days. Then the next day I can only eat light food.

Still, I think I should have eaten more steak while there.

I hate this kind of gluttony over meat. No one needs two steaks a day, and just because it is part of some countries culture (although, is it?) doesn't mean it should be glorified. Anyway, it's also ignorant to think all the cows are roaming around free in some grassy bovine nirvana until they get slaughtered.