March 16th From John : We are enjoying a few peaceful days here at the just 6 month old B&B, Lares de Chacras . The tranquility has been an opportunity to reflect on the politics and current events in South America. I know I am straying from our food related mission but there are reasons why a two pound Porterhouse steak costs $7.00 in a restaurant here. Two articles resonate with my experiences. If you are interested check them out: Latin America’s Leftist Shift: Hopes and Challenges and the book: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Pro and Con.

March 14th From Debbie and John:

We left Mendoza three days ago on a quest to get as close as possible to Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. Our trip into the highest part of the Andes took us on Route 7 all the way to the Chilean border. The mountain desert scenery along the road was spectacular. We arrived late Sunday afternoon at Cerro Aconcagua. We climbed up a few hundred feet and John took some photos in the late afternoon light. The sun sets here at about 8:15pm. We stayed at some nice, mostly empty hotels since the climbing season is almost over and skiing will not start until it snows. But there was still plenty of great food and wine.

We had grilled Kid and Rib Eye yesterday for lunch, and lots of beer; we were really thirsty after walking around the National Park of Cerro Aconcagua for a couple of hours. The mountain was still a long way from us since we were at 10,000 feet and the mountain top is 22,000. It takes two days with an overnight at a mountain camp to even get to to the spot for the classic photo of the mountain. John will be posting some photos of this incredible mountain and its foothills. Last night we stayed at the Gran Uspallata Hotel, which must have been quite the place in its hay-day. Now it is a little tired, but with lovely grounds… more photos ?

Today, Tuesday, we found by good luck and networking, a lovely B&B called Lares de Chacras in Chacras De Coria, a small town between Mendoza to the north and Lujan de Cuyo to the south. It is in quite an upscale town. Our B&B has very nice rooms, large and modern bathrooms , a pool, hot tub, nice patios, and a beautiful lounge. Breakfast is included and there is internet, in fact tomorrow, they are supposed to have each room hooked up!! We may NEVER leave here.

We had an early light lunch today. John had a perfectly grilled 1/2 chicken and I had a huge sandwich of grilled Lomo (Tenderloin), cheese, ham, fried egg, lettuce and tomato, which I could not finish. We had two liters of beer $1.50 each and a coffee. It cost us $10.00, American.

Of course, after I stated that there is never any pepper on the tables…. the last three restaurants had white pepper shakers…who knows? But once again, my “carry the tissue” hint came in handy! Actually the stereotypes of the first two weeks are starting to wear thin. The last two steaks that John ordered were served very rare. The TBone turned out to be a two pound 2 inch thick Porterhouse for $7.00 American. Porterhouses work well for us because John gets the Strip side and I get the Tenderloin. The Bife de Chorizo John ordered in Uspallata came medium rare and John never even specified how he wanted it cooked. So it is an over simplification to say they always cook the hell out of their meat. Also the meat has been quite tender lately. I must confess that we both have taken a liking to their grass fed beef and the real wood barbecue cooking method. We both love the barbecued Kid. They serve a rack of ribs grilled crispy on the outside with a little lemon squeezed on it.

John Adds:

All this does not bode very well for our quest for recipe and menu ideas for Noah’s. Wood grilled hormone free, ultra fresh, grass fed beef and rack of baby goat is never going to happen in the States. One goal of travel can be to develop respect for other ways of doing things. I don’t think their food can honestly be exported./translated/recreated. We just need to be thankful for our own local specials like the fresh Flounder Michael filets for us daily at Seawell fish market. Amen.

March 11th, A few words from John:

Driving in Argentina has been fun. The primary goal on the road is to move traffic and if you cooperate with them their system really rocks. Fist of all, lanes are merely guidelines. Since the cars are small, three cars can, as needed fit into two lanes. We are driving a VW Gol which is a Golf without the “f”. So a stopped car, blocking a lane, hardly slows traffic since the other cars merely weave themselves into an extra lane. It is sort of like the way they dance the tango. Two people become one on the dance floor. Two cars become one on the road, mystically each taking three quarters of a lane. Secondly, most intersections do not have stop signs or traffic lights. You drive very quickly into the intersection avoiding cross traffic, pedestrians on crosswalks, and motor cyclists. One driver slows his car minimally which cues the other driver to speed his car up and pass first. In this way, the car on the left yields to the car on the right at the last possible instant. Traffic really moves. Thirdly, outside of the cities, on the major roads there isn’t much traffic at all. So a 2 lane highway through the flat straight roads of the Pampas is more like an effective 4 lane since there is so little oncoming traffic. In addition, because trucks have a 50 mph speed limit and cars 80 mph limit; it is possibly to blow by multiple trucks in one fell swoop. But there is a Catch 22 to traffic suddenly occupying both directions of a two lane highway. We almost learned this the hard way in the Andes on route 7, the road to Santiago, Chile. When you make a right hand turn onto a two way highway you look to the left to make sure there is no traffic in your lane. This is common sense. But why look to the right? I only look to the right immediately as I enter the highway. But suppose you turn right and there is an oncoming passing car in your lane? You are dead meat. And finally on the plus side, drivers have no ego problems yielding the right of way as long a traffic moves. Considering the intensity of the driving we have not seen much rude behavior. We did observe a few fingers waved here and there, three 18 wheelers in the ditch, and one of our cab drivers almost squeeze a motorcyclist passing to his right into a just opened parked car door. At the next light the motorcyclist pretty calmly explained to the cab driver that he almost killed him. I personally didn’t think the cyclist would make it.

On our way to Mendoza from Cordoba we crossed some mountains on the Ruta de las Altas Cumbres and had a chance to see and photograph some Condors at the Parque nacianal de la Quebrada del Condorito. I hope we see more.

I also am learning more about the meat. Entrecot was a New York Strip Steak which came once thick and another time butterflied. Bife Chorizo was a Rib Eye or Del Monico.Though by another translation it could mean “Prize Cut Steak” which could be almost any good cut. Lomo is Tenderloin. Metambre is Flank. And Assada Costilla which is best described here:

The heart of the asado is the beef ribs which are cut differently in Argentina than in the United States. In the U.S., beef ribs are often cut into one or two bone sections like pork ribs, but in Argentina our butchers cut across the ribs so that meat forms long ribbons with a little round piece of bone every few inches. Whole Article

Here are some photos.