Assertions Argentines have made to me

Since I've been here, various Argentinos have claimed to me that their country has the best: steaks, wine, women, pizza, and ice cream.

Steaks -- the cuts are different, but I have yet to have a bad steak. I am not a steak connoisseur, but my guess is that this is true. The bife is phenomenal.

Wine -- I agree that they have the best Malbecs, but they don't have enough variety to have the best wines. I'd personally go with the US because of the diversity, although I tend to love wines from New Zealand and Australia. I think French wines are overrated, but perhaps I am not entirely objective. So put this one down as true, but only one-dimensionally.

Women -- I'll go with true on this one. The girls here are very attractive. As one of their sayings go (or at least as I understood it), the angels must be falling from heaven today.

Pizza -- I haven't had that many pizzas here, but to me this is just not true. Give me pizza on the east coast any time. It's a little too greasy and cheesy for me here, plus they tend to cook whole olives on the surface of the pizza (see pictures previously) which gives an olive taste around that spot.

Ice Cream -- In Argentina's eternal quest to be Italy (kidding), their helado is pretty fantastic. I'm not qualified to say whether it's better than gelato, but Argentine tiramisu helado would probably be my current pick for dessert at my last meal.

What I Ate Today: Pizza de Argentina

First in a series. And this is actually what I ate yesterday for dinner (and lunch today).

Napolitan pizza from Kentucky on Santa Fe in Palermo:





There's a pizza place about 7 blocks down Santa Fe that's been around since 1942 called Kentucky. Kentucky? Yeah, that's what I thought. Not a state known for its pizza. The decor seems to be horse-racing related, so perhaps this explains it?

There are many, many pizzerias here. Given the number of Italians who've come here over the years, this is not surprising.

First thing to note about pizza here is that it is a sloppy, cheese-happy, sauce everywhere affair. You will need a napkin. Or four. There's un poquito of grease involved. Olives seem to be quite normal, which is not a plus for me. I'm not sure if the picture does it justice, but it is quite filling. I wasn't expecting that, but it is definitely filling. It's pretty deep dish. New York-style or Margherita's (still my favorite pizza in the world. Good things do come out of Newark, DE) this is not.

If you've looked at the picture, you're probably thinking: what the heck are those things on the left and bottom quadrants of the pizza? That's faina. What is faina? Excellent question. I tried to ask this myself, but I didn't have much luck understanding the answer. My spanish ain't that great yet. Duh.

Faina is a thin slice of chickpea bread that you put on top of one of the pieces. It then forms something of a sandwich. It's actually pretty good (plus it helps in containing the "joy" that is pizza de Argentina), and I could definitely see myself getting used to it, and wanting faina with all my pizza down here.

It's also traditional here to wash your pizza down with moscato, a sweet white dessert wine. I didn't do that. I'm going to do that when I go to Guerrin, which is probably the most famous pizza shop here. Trip report when it happens, of course.