We had an amazing time in Argentina and Uruguay. Here is the first part of my travel diary shared in my weekly newspaper column: Delicious Life with Jennifer Schell Lirag.
https://www.pentictonherald.ca/life/article_5adfe18a-dda4-11ee-8016-0f9c2cf9badc.html
We are back from our three-week South American adventure in Argentina and Uruguay! February in South America offers beautiful late summer weather and it is in full bloom. For me of course, food and wine destinations are high priority making this time of year ideal to visit Argentina’s stunning Mendoza wine region. It is near their harvest time so the vineyards are heavy with grapes and wineries buzzing with activity.
The current economic state of Argentina is in flux causing their currency to change almost daily. Although good for the traveller, we are so compassionate to the people as they try to stabilize their economy. With our dollar value being so high, the exchange rate made it possible for us to dine out in excellent restaurants, eating and drinking beautiful wines like we used to before our cost of going out here (or even cooking at home) skyrocketed. It was a treat.
Argentinian culture is beautiful. In a nutshell, they are warm, welcoming, proud, family oriented, food loving, tango dancing, futbol obsessed, yerba mate drinking, Malbec consuming carnivores with a stunning country that they love to share. Argentina offers all that you could want for ranging from a bustling cosmopolitan city and urban life to a world class wine country and a thriving agriculture industry featuring (as I alluded to earlier) a massive grass-fed cattle industry, to the storied outdoor wonderland of Patagonia. We realized that a return trip is necessary to fully experience this country.
Buenos Aires is known as the Paris of South America due to its stunning European architecture, rich cultural life, and fashionable vibe. It also offers a dazzling food and wine scene with a stellar line up of Michelin starred restaurants. It is no exaggeration that these people love their beef. We seriously indulged in rib eye steaks every day. The meat is cooked on a wood fire grill called a parilla and you can smell the mouth-watering waft of wood fire smoke throughout the cities starting in the morning to prep for lunch. Almost every menu will have a steak option if not many, served with the traditional chimichurri condiment (recipe below) and/or their own version of chorizo sausage (not the typical spicy version we know here). Steakhouses feature huge parillas loaded with every cut of beef there is – and they consume the whole beast. The food is delicious. The beef all grass fed in their country, the vegetables all local (I should mention that for those of you that are vegetarian and vegan, there is absolutely a delicious place for you in the Argentine culinary world). Meal times are sacred and sitting down to eat with family and friends is of great importance here making the restaurant scene very lively and something we needed to adjust to as an early dinner here is at 8:30 pm with 10:30 – 11 being the more usual time to dine.
So what pairs perfectly with steak? Red wine of course, and in Argentina, Malbec is king. The first portion of our trip, we submerged ourselves in Mendoza. It is a 1 1/2-hour flight from Buenos Aires coast to the city of Mendoza which is the capital of the Mendoza province that runs alongside the dramatic Andes mountain range on the border of Chile. We fell in love with this area immediately. My friend Ann Sperling, winemaker and former owner of Sperling Vineyards in Kelowna and her husband Peter Gamble own a vineyard and gorgeous villa in the town of Chacras de Coria. The couple lives here part time and make their own wine label called Versado from their vineyard located within some of the best grape growing soil in the world – ideal for Malbec production. The villa is available to rent when the couple is out of country, and lucky for us, we secured almost a week of wine lover’s paradise there.
Villa Viamonte, is their gated property that features a beautifully restored heritage villa complete with flowering gardens, a pool, a separate dance hall building (seriously) for events and much to my husband’s glee, a wood fire parilla. On site also lives the lovely caretakers Marcella and Enrique who are there if you need them and keep the yard and pool (also the villa- with its five bedrooms is spotless). Google for booking info.
For the full Argentinian experience, this chimichurri should be served atop grass fed beef steaks that have been cooked on a wood fire – but a bbq with good Costco rib eyes will do.
Chimichurri
2 cups fresh Italian parsley leaves packed
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
2-3 tsp dried oregano
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
Optional for heat: ½ tsp red pepper flakes
Mince the garlic and parsley very finely and put in a medium bowl. Stir in the the oregano and the red pepper flakes (if using). Whisk in the red wine vinegar, then the olive oi and stir to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Transfer into a covered bowl or jar with a tight-fitting lid and let sit for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. Serve in a bowl alongside steak.
Or, if you want to use a food processor.
Combine parsley, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper (if using) in a food processor. Process until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Transfer sauce to a bowl and pour olive oil over mixture and stir well. Let stand for at least an hour before serving.
Chimichurri sauce can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. It is also delicious on other meats or fish. Warning: very addictive.