It´s not all meat here, though we were awed at the quantities being pulled together for an asado (barbeque) at one of our hostels.
And with scenes like the one below sometimes it´s a wonder that Argentina isn´t a nation of vegetarians. Well, it´s no secret where the meat is coming from. Michael Pollan would probably approve.
Argentina´s best veggie deal is the empanada, a delightful little pocket of melty cheese and other treats in a pastry shell. These are often filled with carne, but not always. Someone actually apologized to us for only having spinach empanadas left. We laughed and ordered four.
This particular cafe had some truly beauteous treats.
We noted a certain similarity between some of the desserts and the surrounding landscape:
Indoors
Outdoors
We settled on the maximal caloric offering: a cake of coconut and dulce de leche. The sugar rush left us quivering.
After our second hike to the Laguna Torre (the one with the glacier above) we searched out a treat recommended by a couple of friendly fellow hiker-foodies. At this cozy spot, you can read back issues of magazines over a steaming cup of hot chocolate with chili, whisky, and almost anything else you care to ¨adulterate¨ your beverage with.
Heaven in a shack
In El Calafate, we had to try a dessert made from the eponymous berry (that´d be the calafate). These are wonderful cooked. Raw, they´re full of seeds -- and a little sour.
Calafate on the hoof
Oh boy!
Oh...
Ah, that´s better
OMG, that coconut pie thing looks delish.
ReplyDeleteLove the visual comparison of the dessert and the mountains. Hee.
I think I'd just give up and eat bits of meat if I were there, something I've already begun to do here, since even this liberal city is a rough ride for a vegetarian.
btw, have you heard of pie pubs? Someone from the U.K. told me about them. They are pubs that serve mostly savory pies. Does that not sound like heaven in a drinking establishment? Hell, yeah. I am totally going to England. In the summer.
OMG - it ALL looks delish! How did you not eat the chocolate thing? If I could eat my screen, I just might.
ReplyDeletePie pubs sound great. I also like pubs with Indian curry. There´s one in SF. With, if you can believe it, air hockey!
ReplyDeleteSkipping the chocolate was not such a hardship really, given that we instead ate coconut-caramel pie....