Steaking Our Claim in Argentina

We flew into Buenos Aires last Sunday and moved into a quaint little studio apartment for the week. The place has a real McGill ghetto-type feel which I guess is kinda comforting to us, although I keep getting flashbacks of studying for exams. Maybe that’s why we’ve been driven to consume copious amounts of $2.00-per-bottle wine (which is of the same quality as $14.00 wine at the LCBO!). At any rate, we feel like real porteños this week, and that feeling was reinforced when we had a life-changing steak dinner last week…

It’s all true what they say about Argentine beef. It’s more tender. It’s more flavourful. It’s juicier. I think the cows are raised on God’s farm. Beef is so ubiquitous here; I read that Argentines eat an average of 68 kg of beef per year. That’s insane! But now I know why they do it. Don’t get me wrong, we ate some memorable meals back in Eastern Europe and those will always be near and dear to my heart. First, there was the homemade Bulgarian moussaka and stuffed peppers back in Macedonia. Then there were the home-grown olives (and oil), tomatoes, cucumbers, figs, grapes etc. with the family in Greece. Finally, Switzerland had our bellies bulging from the cheese and schnapps fondue. But this steak takes the cake (say that five times fast). When Elise took her first bite she actually cried out involuntarily. I’m not kidding. People in the restaurant actually looked over at our table to see what was going on. “Oh, just another gringo orgasming over the steak” they said to themselves. Sure, you can get this steak back home, but it’ll cost you a weeks pay! We got it for the same price as a Swiss Chalet ¼ chicken dinner! We’re gonna be in Argentina for another three weeks sooooo….you can’t OD on beef, can you?

-G