Argentina

The Argentinean diet is high in protein, particularly from beef. A traditional dish is grilled meat from the asado, which is a method of cooking meat over a grill similar to the American barbeque. Asado refers to both the custom of grilling and the grilled food itself.

There's also a surprisingly Italian element to Argentinean cuisine. Although regionally adapted, many dishes like polenta, pastas and pizza (locally pisa or the more phonetic pitsa) originated in Italy. You can find pizza por metro (pizza by the meter), pizza a la parrilla (grilled pizza) and pizza rellena (stuffed pizza). Vegetables and salads with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, eggplant, squash and zucchini are often served as side dishes. The nationally popular dulce de leche is a sweet caramel paste used to fill pastries, cookies, cakes and pancakes or to spread on toast at breakfast.

When traveling in the central region and las Pampas, try one of the pastas such as tallarines (fettuccine), ravioles (ravioli), noquis (gnocchi) or canelones (cannelloni). In northwestern Argentina, you can enjoy a hearty bowl of locro stew, usually made with corn, meat and vegetables.

Argentinean wine is made in the Cuyo region. The vineyards are blessed with the combination of a high altitude and low humidity and therefore don’t usually suffer from insects, fungi and disease.

Freshwater fish, rice, la mandioca (a.k.a. yucca or cassava) and mate come from the northeast region of Argentina. Mate is a traditional hot tea made from steeping dried leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant in hot water.—Jennifer Capalbo

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