Backpacking South America

Have you ever read the book “Love in the Time of Cholera?” It is this amazing story written by the creative, artistic writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, another brilliant Colombian. It is a story entwining, love, of course, and the deepness and sickness thereof. As a reader you’re made to believe of a hopeless romantic, but as an observer and an analysis of the story, you are drawn into the many facets of the story and their potential meaning. It is an extremely intriguing story to digest and supposedly many of the sights and inspiration came from Cartagena, Colombia.

I just knew, even before we arrived, that we were going to love Cartagena and I was not disappointed. With it’s cobblestoned streets, Colombian, African and Spanish infused heritage, rich and poor neighborhoods and a walled in city to bat, the history of this city runs deep. There are so many corners of this city that could be adapted to storytelling.

We spent the better part of one day exploring the inside of the old city. We climbed the walls and had a beautiful view of the ocean and Castillo San Felipe de Barajas.

Our date with our new friend, Stephen, finally arrived. After spending the afternoon bustling around town trying to find good deals on wine, we settled on 2 Sauvignon Blancs, 1 Carmenere, and a dessert wine. We checked into our hostel (Andes Hostel, comfortable hostel, disorganized staff) to find Stephen already in the midst of preparing a fume for the entire filet of fish he bought at the market that day.

Aside from being a three-star chef, who by the assistance of Julia Child found himself in culinary school and cooking in top restaurants and for famous people around the world, Boy George included, eventually he took the long rode to Croatia and started a catering company, but is once again on the road seeking out his next culinary adventure.  However, this is only half the story.

Carra and I prepped the rooftop patio for cocktail hour and our first two courses and while waiting for our guest Enrique to arrive, we polished off a bottle of white wine used for cooking…can’t let a good thing go to waste.

Our first course was a super fresh Waldorf Salad with substituted fresh figs for raisins. Surprisingly, for the first course, we moved to the Reserva Carmenere, which paired perfectly well with the figs.

We have found on our journeys that being on the right course isn’t always the best to see and experience things. 

Recently, we were recommended a restaurant, but none of the locals we asked knew where it was exactly and invariably recommended another place.  Then, as we were walking home from class looking for lunch, we took a couple wrong turns to find another restaurant and stumbled across the original recommendation – La Patrona. 

We were so thankful that we found this little restaurant.  It was by far the best lunch we had in Mendoza. 

The lomo empanadas were juicy and very flavorful, the salad was as fresh as could be and the vegetables were amazing.  Amazing how a few wrong turns can just be so right.

We have developed a small taste for empanadas.  Empanadas are essentially a small calzone-like pocket stuffed with different fillings, i.e., beef, chicken, ham & cheese, sausage and cheese, creamed corn and sweet potatoes, etc. 

During our stay in Buenos Aires, we soon discovered a popular lunch item among porteños – Empanadas.  They’re fast, cheap and filling.  We were soon addicted and began to search for restaurants with reportedly good empanadas and continued to return to those that did.  Eventually, I even learned how to make some of my own with our host, Liliana (video and photos below).

Empanadas were introduced to the Americas by the Spaniards, who incorporated the empanada in their diet during the Arab occupation of southern Spain.  In Argentina, empanadas take on certain flair depending on the region.  For example, in Salta (northwest corner), we’re told they’re spicy and very juicy.  In Cordoba, they are a bit sweeter with sugar and egg.  Tucuman includes raisins and olives and in Mendoza, they have equal parts meat and onion. Buenos Aires doesn’t seem to have a style of its own per se, but has taken aspects from the different regions. 

We’re excited to continue traveling through all the regions of Argentina so that we can taste and enjoy the many wonderful flavors.  I always find that one of the best ways to understand and connect with people is over food.  We agreed that we’re willing to sacrifice our trim physiques in order to experience the different variations of empanadas and to meet the people that prepare them.

Argentina is known for its meat.  In fact, they eat more beef per capita than any other country (Wikipedia has the amount at 68kg/year – that’s 150 pounds).  So, we knew we were in for red meat, but just how much is overwhelming.

Heap of Meat – Our First Night

It was late, and we were tired and hungry.  It was our first night in Buenos Aires.  We were still adjusting to this schedule of not eating dinner until around 9:30, which is still early in most restaurants.  We had actually reached a point that first night where we were beyond hungry and just tired, but we knew we needed to eat something.  So, we walked around San Telmo, passing by restaurants, peeking in windows to see if anybody else was eating.  We had heard that most restaurants do not open for dinner before 9, however, we saw a number of places open, but no one seemed to be eating food.  So, “when in Rome…do as the Romans.”  So, we did. 

Despite our ache for food, we popped into a bar and grabbed a drink.  Here were our options:

Water: AR$6
Coca-Cola: AR$6.50
Beer: AR$10
Glass of Wine: AR$5

We ordered our first glass of wine, a very generous pour for only $1.50 US and a beer – about the same as the states.  We thought, wow, this is going to be a great journey.  After passing the time, it was about 9:45; we thought for sure people were eating dinner, but just not in our bar.  So we decided to move on and find some place serving food.  We couldn’t possibly be the only ones eating food in a restaurant.  We finally stumbled upon a place where people were eating.  We checked out the menu, couldn’t really distinguish the different cuts of beef, so we decided to give it a shot and be adventurous. 

At this point, I was not very hungry…it was almost 10:30.  I’m not use to eating this late…it’s almost bedtime.   Jared convinced me to order a steak – so I opted for a “Bifecita,” whatever cut it is…it should be small.  I also decided to order some papa fritas.  We scouted the restaurant to see if we could determine portion size, but couldn’t quite gauge what to anticipate.  Jared decided to order “Asado.”   From previous research, we knew Asado was a type of beef, similar to a roast.  (Well, please read the fine print.)  The server asked “for one?” but after the fact, we believe he said “for one!”  My Bifecita was the size of a normal steak.  So much for small.  Jared’s Asado…was actually four steaks.  And the papa fritas, were a huge portion.  We laughed so hard. 

Apparently, Asado is something that is shared amongst the table.  It can be even larger than the meal Jared received, but Jared asked for an Asado portion for one.  It’s a very popular meal choice, but it’s usually a meal that everyone takes part in.  Needless to say, there may not be enough moneda, but there is plenty of beef. 

And the meat just keeps coming…

By the end of our time in Buenos Aires, we had actually grown to love our beef dinners… and lunches.  We just became wise on what and how to order.  We know our cuts and we know when it is appropriate to share an order.  Below are two notable steak dinners we would like to share, conveniently, both restaurants offered a penguin of wine (which is about 2/3 of a bottle served in a penguin pitcher where the wine comes out the mouth) for 10-12 pesos (about $3.50).