Posted in Argentina, blood, Brazil, Brazilian, cheap meal, chicken, delicacy, duck, Garlic, grilled, grilling, hearty, Jim Harrison, Meat, offal, Recipe, rosemary, sage, South America, tradition, yucca on May 19th, 2016
Towards the end of an otherwise very enjoyable dish of Cantonese-style spicy duck tongues at Congee Village on New York’s Lower East Side a few years ago, I found myself asking the inevitable question: how many ducks does it take to make a plate of this? Counting the tongues I could pick up with my […]
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Posted in Argentina, Basque, brandy, Buenos Aires, fish, France, healthy, hearty, history, Montevideo, paella, pinchos, pintxos, Potato, seafood, soup, South America, Spain, stew, tradition, travel, Tuna, Uruguay on May 2nd, 2015
When the coughing and farting of the antique truck had rumbled away, between the rustlings of birds pecking grubs among the dry plane leaves, you could just make out the pop and thwack of rubber on concrete. Ascending a double flight of unusually steep stairs, past a stained glass window featuring farming folk, the squeak […]
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Posted in boiled, capers, England, festival, healthy, octopus, Olive Oil, olives, Peru, pulpo, seafood, South America, tradition, winter on Dec 24th, 2014
For much of what we are accustomed to seeing around Christmas, the candles, trees, the mistletoe, the decorations, and many of the songs, we need to thank the Germans. Not specifically those residents of the modern nation state of Germany, but the historic Germanic-speaking peoples of central Europe, for whom the birth of our Lord […]
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Posted in agriculture, boiled, Brooklyn, capers, fish, hearty, London, New York City, octopus, olives, Park Slope, peppers, Peru, Potato, restaurant, sauce, South America, tradition, vegetables on Oct 9th, 2014
Of all the miracles of modern science that we have witnessed over recent years, few have received as little attention as the 2009 announcement by the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, that it had successfully sequenced the potato genome. It is a sad reflection on the state of our priorities as a species that […]
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Posted in America, Argentina, Autumn, baking, barbecue, bread, Buenos Aires, cheap meal, chick peas, chickpeas, culture, Fall, Genoa, Genovese, Italian, Italian-American, Italy, Liguria, New York City, Pizza, Provencal, Provence, rosemary, sage, South America, tradition, travel, Uruguay on Sep 17th, 2014
“There are more pizzerias in Buenos Aires than in Naples and Rome combined.” – Ernesto Sabato, Heroés y Tumbas In his book “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” travel-writer Bill Bryson, in an attempt to defeat insomnia, describes making a lonely evening among the anodyne IKEA fittings of a Stockholm hotel even more excruciating by tallying […]
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Posted in Argentina, brown sugar, Buenos Aires, crispy, delicacy, dining, duck, empanadas, French-ness, grilled, grilling, herbs, Meat, Olive Oil, orange juice, oranges, Paul Bocuse, South America, thyme, tourism, travel, Uruguay, winter on Mar 14th, 2014
On our first afternoon in Buenos Aires, as we lazily wandered the Palermo district, stupefied by an overnight flight and a filling lunch featuring our first Argentine steak and an immoderate milanesa napolitana, we paused to admire the way the beautiful lilac-blue flowers of a blooming jacaranda overhung a stucco wall that years of sub-tropical […]
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Posted in Argentina, barbecue, blogging, butter, Garlic, peaches, pork, rosemary, sage, South America on Aug 30th, 2013
Anyone who works in a company of any size will tire at some point of hackneyed sports analogies when discussions around departmental or organizational performance occur. I certainly had more than my fill this past week during day-long 2014 strategic planning sessions, but perhaps surprisingly the most common sports cliche “practice makes perfect” didn’t come […]
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Posted in Argentina, beef, British, Buenos Aires, grilled, grilling, London, Meat, Recipe, soccer, South America, Steven Raichlen, tradition, travel, Uruguay on Jul 31st, 2013
“I dream of the South, a huge moon, the sky reversed, I am looking for the South, the open time, and its thereafter.” – Vuelvo al Sur, by Astor Piazzolla One may be inspired by the unlikeliest of sources, and sources of inspiration do not come much more unlikely than John Unsworth. John – Jack […]
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Many among us, ourselves included, can be forgiven for spending a few wistful moments during the more tedious passages in our lives wondering what it might be like to wander exotic locales, rubbing shoulders with cultured types all while sipping fine wines over plates artfully decorated with exquisite regional specialties. When we come out of […]
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Posted in America, Beach, Caribbean, cilantro, fish, fried, fritters, history, octopus, patriotism, Puerto Rican, pulpo, restaurant, Restaurant Review, South America, tourism, tradition, travel on Mar 20th, 2012
Conventional wisdom dictates that one should never eat at an empty restaurant, especially early in the week, but if there is absolutely nowhere else open and you have no choice, do yourself a favor and avoid the seafood. Happily, Vieques, a 55-square mile island off the east end of Puerto Rico, and former bombing range […]
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Posted in black beans, Caribbean, grilled, Haitian, oil, oregano, plantains, Puerto Rican, South America, tostones, tradition on Jul 21st, 2011
An oft-heard, anguished cry these days chez nous is “there’s nothing to bloody eat in this house except baby food!”. Never actually true and rarely even close to reality, this refrain was aired again earlier this week when, left to my own devices while Amy enjoys a well-deserved week at her family’s shore house, I […]
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Posted in America, Argentina, Beach, beef, blogging, Buenos Aires, Chorizo, kidneys, Montevideo, morcilla, Naples, restaurant, Restaurant Review, sausage, South America, sweetbreads, tourism, tripe, Uruguay, yucca on Apr 27th, 2011
“A little of what you fancy does you good.” – British saying The hardworking folks behind this non-award winning blog are enjoying a deserved warm weather break on Florida’s Gulf Coast right now. No offense to the locals, but we did not pick this particular destination for its well-known and highly prized food culture. Instead, […]
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Posted in beef, Brazil, British, Caribbean, chili, Chinese, diversity, Garlic, noodles, quick meal, South America, spicy on Apr 18th, 2011
Guyana, sitting on the top right of the land mass of South America, is among the least known and most mysterious of that continent’s countries, something that is almost as true today as it was when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used it as the setting for his 1904 novel, The Lost World. Home to the […]
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Posted in alcohol, alcoholic drink, beef, braised, Brazil, caldo, carrots, celery, Colombian, Potato, soup, South America, tradition on Mar 1st, 2011
We understand from our Colombian friend Juan Camilo (who longtime readers may remember from this podcast) that the Bogota nightlife is on a par with any of the world’s party capitals, and that when it comes to late night boozing, the aguardiente-loving natives of Colombia’s capital are among the most experienced. It should come as […]
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Posted in America, Argentina, beef, Bourdain, Buenos Aires, chile, chili, culture, fried, Peru, Potato, rice, South America, tradition, travel on Jan 24th, 2011
During his show on Panama, Anthony Bourdain observed that Chinese food somehow gets shinier the further west one goes. He might also have mentioned that it changes in other ways throughout the western hemisphere too, on the whole, becoming less and less Chinese-like. In a similar way to Panama, to which Chinese laborers flocked to […]
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Posted in Argentina, Asturias, chocolate, chops, empanadas, Garlic, lentils, Portuguese, side dish, South America, Spain, travel, Uruguay on Dec 21st, 2010
Those of you who raised your eyebrows at the very idea of lentils mixed with chocolate might be forgiven for thinking that we have lost our tiny minds, that too long around infant children, cooing and a-goo-goo-gooing, has softened our already mushy brains beyond repair. Indeed, had we not gone out on a limb ourselves […]
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Posted in Argentina, baking, Buenos Aires, duck, Galician, Gallego, Genoa, history, Italian, South America, Spain, travel, Uruguay on May 12th, 2010
Being the innate pessimist that I am, watching a small boat being knocked around like a dodgem car on the rollicking, blue-grey seas at the normally placid Jersey Shore this past weekend put me in mind of the Costa de Muerte, the coast of death, on Spain’s north-west coast, where Galician fisherman have taken their […]
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A quick, sweet post to kick-start your weekend about a ridiculously simple, ridiculously delicious Argentinian dessert – Chocotorta. This very popular dulce de leche-spiked, layered dessert reminds me a bit of tiramisu with an Argentine twist. What could be more Argentinian than dulce de leche? When Joan of Foodalogue revisited her Culinary Tour food event […]
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Posted in Argentina, bread, Buenos Aires, Chorizo, Colombian, grilled, grilling, herbs, Mexican, morcilla, pork, Recipe, sandwiches, sausage, South America, street food, tourism, travel on Jun 24th, 2009
Virtually everywhere they make sausages, and in a lot of places they don’t, some form of sausage in bread combination is sold by street vendors, often to the inebriated, and, in many cases, the consumer is best advised to be under the influence before taking their life in their hands with one of these mystery bag […]
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Posted in beef, Buenos Aires, crispy, culture, grilled, grilling, guts, indulgent meal, lemon, Montevideo, morcilla, offal, pork, sausage, South America, sweetbreads, tourism, travel, Uruguay, veal on Jun 2nd, 2009
As Odysseus was nearly drawn to his destruction on the rocks by the enchanting song of the sirens, so your hardy WANF voyagers were almost powerless to resist breaking themselves on the plentiful tables of Uruguay. However, unlike Homer’s hero, for whom women were the main weakness throughout his epic peregrinations, during our recent travels […]
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Posted in alcoholic drink, Argentina, beverage, cognac, drink, egg, grapes, history, lemon, lime, South America, tart, travel on May 7th, 2009
Picture this, if you will: A warm, humid day in Argentina’s early autumn; the last rays of sun slanting sharply through the browning leaves of mature plane trees; myriad dog-walkers rustling quietly by in the litter of those already fallen. In the lee of a giant ficus planted for sidewalk shade, two travelers recline in […]
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Posted in anchovies, Argentina, Buenos Aires, chick peas, crispy, Easter, eating, Food Commentary, Genoa, Genovese, history, Italian, Italy, language, Liguria, onions, Piemonte, Pizza, restaurant, Restaurant Review, South America, tourism, tradition, travel on Apr 24th, 2009
It’s fairly safe to say that no group, with the exception of the enigmatic gaucho, played as significant a role in defining Argentine national character as the Italians. Primarily (and principally, numerically-speaking) from Liguria (particularly Genoa), Piemonte and Tuscany, but latterly also from Naples and other areas of southern Italy, these Italian immigrants, literally by […]
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Posted in Argentina, bread, Buenos Aires, crab, Recipe, Recipes, sandwiches, seafood, soft-shell, South America, tourism, travel, Uruguay on Apr 20th, 2009
We’re baaaack. We had an excellent trip to South America and fell in love with Buenos Aires and the Porteños, as well Uruguay and its people. In the coming months, we will feature many posts about our trip including restaurant reviews, special meals we had, Argentinian and Uruguyan culture (including food culture), street food and, of […]
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