I’m beginning to think we may end up back in lockdown here again. We’re already partially there, with many schools re-closed, restaurants are semi-closed – they can only be open until 7pm for outdoor seating, and after that have to switch to delivery only, and ostensibly after 8pm only essential workers can be on the streets, no big social gatherings, etc. People just went overboard when restrictions got lifted, and our vaccine supply is still quite limited here (I just got my first dose, finally, about 12 days ago, when we moved on to the 60+ set). And, as a result, our numbers are spiking again – we’re now third in the world for new cases daily, coming in barely behind Brazil, and way behind India, and our daily mortality is up there too. The president announced the new semi-lockdown with a speech that was basically, “if you’re all going to act like a bunch of undisciplined children, I’m going to have to be the strict dad”, and then he went ahead and did so. Still, I’m breathing a little easier with one dose under the skin, while still being cautious as to going out and about. Henry’s up in Peru with his family for a couple of months, so I get to just be introverted, without interruptions.
This time around, we’re going all Argentina and all right here in our own neighborhood, Recoleta, letting me stay close to home.
Let’s start with empanadas. I was in the mood, and it’s been awhile since I focused on those. I don’t know why, but it hadn’t occurred to me to do a simple Google search for “the best empanadas in Recoleta”, my neighborhood. Easily rising to the top of the heap, was this spot, El Maitén, Beruti 2795, just a short walk from home. It’s a takeout and delivery only place, even before the pandemic, really just a counter in a small store space, with a kitchen upstairs. And quite the selection they have (135 pesos apiece). They offer fried or baked, though the counterman made it quite clear that the fried were the way to go. He also recommended half of these – I picked, just for completeness’ sake, the classic carne al cuchillo and a carne picante – knife-cut steak and a spicy ground beef, and the ricotta, pancetta and plum one; he picked the two chicken ones, one with blue cheese and one with mushroom, and the candelaria, which was mozzarella, bacon, ham, and roasted peppers, yes please. The surprise, though he called it, was the chicken and mushroom one, which might be the best chicken empanada I’ve had, anywhere (well, there was the jerk chicken one at Ruben’s Empanadas in downtown Manhattan…). I also loved the candelaria. The others were great too, no wonder this spot gets top marks from folks in the ‘hood. Oh, and he threw in a couple of dulce de leche mini-empanadas on the house. I do like that they label the empanadas with food dye to make it easy to see which one is which, too!
And this spot, La Leñita, opened around the corner from us last year at Azcuénaga 1741, and we hadn’t tried it. A short list of types, and they were out of about a quarter of the list (all running 110-150 pesos apiece). The young lady behind the counter was disinterested in providing any guidance as to which were standouts, though that’s not uncommon here, I’ve gotten used to it. Still, quite different from the enthusiasm of the first place, and, I simply didn’t end up buying as many. Baked is the only option here, and while they provide a little sheet of paper that has the design outlines to tell which is which, it’s not quite as clear. Once again, the carne al cuchillo, here called la tucumana, and the carne picante, plus a matambre verdeo – flank steak and green onion, and a chicken one. They were out of their touted humita ones, sort of like a fresh corn tamale filling. I liked the flavors overall, but they were under-baked by probably 2-3 minutes, so the dough had some spots that weren’t cooked through – you can even kind of see that, and, the fillings, while generous, all had the texture like they’d just put everything in a food processor together (except the “al cuchillo” one, but even that was chopped up really fine). These were good, though no more than that.
Stumbled across this spot while taking a walk around the neighborhood – even with being careful, have to get in my exercise. And I really don’t feel like returning to my daily rooftop walks, though if things continue as they are, I might. The rooftop does have the plus of not having to wear a mask. I’d not seen this place before, though it’s apparently been open for some months now. Las Patriotas, Paunero 2880, seems like someone started with the idea of a classic Argentine bodegón, or sort of a diner, and said, let’s make it a little trendy and upscale. I went for their prix fixe lunch – which at 680 pesos isn’t really much of a discount on the individual prices of what you get – two empanadas – classic carne al cuchillo ones, with a semi-spicy tomato dipping sauce, and an heirloom tomato salad, plus a glass of the house “infusion of the day”. Respectively those come in at 270, 380, and 150 pesos, so you save 120 pesos, a little over a dollar. All absolutely delicious. Maybe a little skimpy on the tomato salad in terms of size for that price, but still, you’re basically looking at a $7.25 prix fixe lunch. Good enough that I decided to splurge on dessert, an almond sabayón and an espresso, adding in another 500 pesos, for, with tip, a total of 1300 pesos rounded off… $14.
And, a sort of new spot that opened up and we popped into just before Henry left. It used to be called El Molino, the mill, and closed for about a year (and which, I appear never to have written up, though we used to frequent it for late night bites), and then re-opened as La Molinera, the miller-ess, Av. Santa Fé 2202. I’ve talked, ad nauseum, about these two dishes, with a few posts that really zeroed in on them. Revuelto Gramajo is an egg, french fry, and ham scramble that I delved into a few years back, trying more than a dozen different versions over the linked post and further follow-ons. This version is pretty classic, no additions other than two thin strips of roasted bell pepper for color. We found it a little dry, but with good flavor. The Suprema Maryland is another dish I’ve probably spent even more time exploring, with one longer post on it, and numerous scattered additions to the search over the years. Again, pretty classic – a breaded and fried chicken cutlet over shoestring fries, topped with bacon, bell pepper, and a fried banana and accompanied by creamed corn. Tasty, well made, and a generous size. I don’t remember exact prices, but around 500-600 pesos each.
And that seems a good place to stop for today! There’s some sushi and pizza on the backburner to writeup. And a few recipes of things I’ve been making at home, including another Bread & Soup Project entry, and finishing off this season of the Tucci recipes….
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