Wel­come to my “Cen­tral and South Amer­ica Food Saga”!

Food was very good and plen­ti­ful in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. We both loved it… we feasted!

The first Argen­tin­ian city we went to was Ushuaia, in Tierra Del Fuego. Because of its geo­graph­i­cal loca­tion — it is the South­ern­most city in the world, stuck at the tip of the Amer­i­cas, right in front of Antarc­tica — food was quite expen­sive. We ended up cook­ing in hos­tels a lot through­out all Patag­o­nia for the same rea­son. But once back to civ­i­liza­tion, in Buenos Aires, we truly got to enjoy the gastronomy.

Argen­tini­ans are big meat-eaters. Meats is cheap, by world stan­dards, and is deli­cious. Par­il­las (steak­houses) are plen­ti­ful along Florida and Lavalle streets in the cap­i­tal, as well as in most pop­u­lar down­town areas, such as San Telmo. Even cheaper options are the ubiq­ui­tous buf­fets, with all-you-can-eat options at around $6 to $8 per per­son includ­ing a drink. Typ­i­cal buf­fet food include rice, beans, eggs, mashed pota­toes, lots of meat and few veg­gies. A lot of these restau­rants are Chinese-owned, so you can also sam­ple var­i­ous stir-fried dishes.

Ital­ian food is also very pop­u­lar, espe­cially in his­tor­i­cal dis­tricts such as La Boca. But most restau­rants offer at least one type of pasta, and piz­zas. The only thing I got sick of after a while was the lack of “healthy” options. As I said, few dishes include veg­eta­bles (a cou­ple of toma­toes in the pizza does NOT count) and I can’t sur­vive on just meat!

Uruguay had sim­i­lar food. Lots of meat, some good Ital­ian food, and a bit of Chi­nese. I liked the pop­u­lar lunch sand­wiches, such as the “com­pleto” and the “Cana­di­ense”, mix of ham, olives, red pep­per etc. on wheat bread. Argentina and Uruguay also seem to love super pan­chos, aka hot dogs. I even saw a all-you-can-eat hot dog place… Yep. Never had a hot dog in my life (the two on the pic­ture are Feng’s), don’t plan to start any­time soon.

Food in Brazil was a bit more exotic, but it may also be because we don’t speak Por­tuguese. In the South, we were still in gau­cho coun­try (cow­boy of the pampa), so there was quite a lot of meat and chur­rasco (Brazil­ian par­illa). In the South­east, typ­i­cal dishes included fei­joada (a black bean and meat stew), fei­jão com arroz (rice and beans), stew veg­eta­bles (yes, finally!). Most dishes were pretty basic but tasty. I loved the tutu de fei­jão (a paste of beans and man­ioc flour) which is used to spice up the rice, and the pão de queijo (a cheese and man­ioc flour roll).

Brazil­ians like the “comida por kilo” style restau­rant: basi­cally a huge buf­fet, with food priced at about $1 per 100 gr. Your plate is weighted after you make your selec­tion. I liked that way because we didn’t need to deci­pher menus in Por­tuguese, plus I think peo­ple waste less food than in a reg­u­lar buffet.

“Cana­di­ense” Sand­wich In Mon­te­v­ideo, Uruguay

“Super Pan­chos” In Mon­te­v­ideo, Uruguay

Famous Argen­tin­ian Steak, Buenos Aires

Par­illa In Buenos Aires, Argentina

Pop­u­lar Lavalle Street, Buenos Aires

Feng And His Giant Steak, Buenos Aires

Diner In Porto Ale­gre, Brazil

Tutu De Fei­jão, Rice And Chicken In Paraty, Brazil

Comida Por Kilo, Brazil

Comida Por Kilo, Brazil

Related arti­cles:

1. The Food Saga: The Sweets
2. The Food Saga: The Drinks
3. The Food Saga: The Chicken Era
4. The Food Saga: The Fish Era
5. Buenos Aires By Night