It's the food

Typical Argentine PizzaI think that so far the hardest thing about moving to Argentina has been adjusting to the food here. Everything I’ve had here has been somewhat familiar, but not quite. 

Pizza is a very popular food here. There is a pizza place on every block and on the menu at most restaurants. One of my friends was asked by her homestay mother if she knew what pizza was. Which makes me believe that portenos mean business about their pizza just like would about their steak or empanadas.

I think most people will agree that the best pizza comes from New York City. I particularly enjoy a slice from Two Boots. Moving to New York I fell in love with pizza. While in New York I get a slice at least three times a week. But in Argentina I’m perplexed when an entire pie is plopped down in front of me. The server takes a slice and puts it on my plate instead of just letting me eat it from the plate it is already on. There are usually whole olives put on top even if you didn’t order them. The crust is a bit thicker and more like bread than anything you’ll encounter in New York. It looks like pizza, it smells like pizza, it doesn’t taste quite like pizza. It seems that all the food here is like that. Sometimes that can be a good thing. Argentina is infamous for its asado, its beef. My homestay brother explained to me for a good fifteen minutes why Argentine beef is so important. He basically concluded that it was because of the way they cut the meat, which I must agree is very interesting. You can get a slice of meat that has been cut across the ribs instead of along them, leaving little circles of bone that one must navigate around. And the prices you can’t beat. My friend Courtney and I had a wonderful dinner at a very fancy restaurant last weekend. I ordered a rib-eye and to be frank it was the most delicious steak I’ve ever had. The price for the meal was less than thirty American dollars for the two of us, which included salad, and a tortilla. The only problem with Argentine asado is that it is everywhere and that nothing green or containing vitamins is accompanying it. You get steak and maybe a potato normally. I talked to my sister who studied in Greece two years ago. To her surprise Greece is not the land of hummus and pita bread. It is the land of grease soaked pastas and minced lamb dished. I was talking to her about the food and she let me know that eventually I’ll start liking food I never thought I would. So I just keep trying and ordering things I don’t understand what they are. I’m starving but I’m learning to adjust.