S and I were in Argentina over Christmas and we of course looked forward to the oodles of good beef we expected to find there. Our expectations were so high that during one particularly hungry afternoon driving between San Francisco and LA, S declared to me that he was "going to eat steak for both lunch and dinner everyday".
We weren't disappointed. The first afternoon after we arrived in Buenos Aires, we set out to find some lunch - beef of course. We ambled into a "parilla al carbon" - essentially just a casual grill place where every imaginable cut of beef was on display above a bed of white hot coals. We quickly got seated and ordered the "mixed grill" for a grand total of USD12.
Now in case you are thinking "mixed grill" equates to a Jack's Place special of chewy sirloin, shrivelled chicken sausage and tough lamb chop (sorry Jack's...), you're absolutely wrong. What turned up was truely the Argentinian version - 2 huge pieces of flank, large portion of short ribs, chorizo, 2 huge chicken breasts (what do they feed the chickens in Argentina?!), all topped off with a massive portion of what some might consider disturbing but which are regarded as delicacies in Argentina - blood sausage, beef kidney, sweetbreads and intestines. YUM. We washed it all down with a bottle of cheap local wine (USD5 - nothing like getting sloshed at lunch while on holiday!). I did think some of the meats (especially the chicken) was overcooked, but the beef was of excellent quality, and I wasn't going to complain given the quantity we got).
The next night, we decided to make the trip to Siga La Vaca, a well-regarded and more upmarket parilla located in a trendy part of town. In true castellano tradition, we turned up at 11.30pm and were greeted by a very lively and noisy dining room full of patrons just getting into their dinners. The deal this restaurant was doing was a "eat all you can" buffet of salad starters and beef main course. The grill had just about every single part of cow on it (including the offal mentioned above, and more) - all you had to do was to roll up and point at the desired part, and the chef would slice off a generous portion for you. All this plus dessert and a bottle of wine for USD15 each. BURP.
The Argentinian cow is actually leaner than its American, Canadian or Australian cousins, yet in its own way, is tastier in a "beefier" sort of way, even if it is a little chewier. It's not unakin to getting more beef in a single bite. The locals attribute it to the quality grass the cows munch on in Argentina, and the exercise they get.
Anyway, by the time we made it to Chile, we were, unsurprisingly, beefed-out. We took a recommendation from the internet to go to the Santa Rita vineyard for lunch - this was a pleasant 45 minute drive through countryside and small towns from downtown Santiago. It was almost a relief to see the menu had a heavy emphasis on seafood (excellent mussels!) and lamb. Being the intrepid and adventurous gourmand, I of course had to try the strangest thing on the menu (and one offally bit I've never before had) - a fricasse of lamb testes.
The waiter was definitely impressed - I'm not sure by my "appreciation" of local cuisine, or my courage - in any case he said to me that it was "one of the best dishes in the menu". He was not wrong - the dish was delicious. The said potentially offensive bit had been sliced up and cooked with herbs, eggs, peas, onions and all sorts of other delicious things I could not quite discern. In fact I would go as far as to say the testes taste like a yummier and more delicate version of sweetbreads (and mind you - I like my lamb sweetbreads). S even grudging admitted the dish was good (after I cajoled him into trying some).
We definitely ate well this trip - I think a suitable New Year's resolution might be to go on a diet...
