SPANISH MINDSET

Hello! How’s it going? In this post, we’re going to talk about the most traditional foods in Argentina and the foods you must try.

You’ve probably already heard about mate, the first image you saw here. Basically, mate is a tea, very similar to coffee. In fact, it even has a somewhat similar taste because mate is very bitter. Essentially, mate is a tea, like any other tea, but served in a cup—like you can see here—or something called a mate cup, with the yerba (herbs) inside. It gives you a lot of energy, so we can say it’s very similar to coffee.

Now, the second food I want to talk about—and one that is super traditional and famous—is probably asado. Yes, asado!

Asado is basically an Argentine barbecue, but there’s a big difference—a very big difference. In Argentina, barbecues, or asados, are huge and include a lot of beef, as well as pork, but mainly beef. Every different cut of beef, or all the different parts of the cow, are included in the asado. So, you must try this dish.

Now, moving on to another traditional Argentine food—this one is my favorite—milanesa!

Here it is, my favorite! Milanesa is my favorite Argentine dish. I recommend looking it up online. First, here’s a picture. Basically, milanesa is very similar to fried chicken, but less fried—or it’s like fried meat, but not exactly. We say it has pan rallado (breadcrumbs).

Milanesa is an Argentine dish, but it actually came many years ago from Austria or Germany. Still, in Argentina, we eat a lot of it, and specifically, milanesa a la napolitana is my favorite and the best of all.

There’s a big debate about whether milanesa de pollo (chicken milanesa) or milanesa de carne (beef milanesa) is better. For me, the best is milanesa de carne, and this milanesa a la napolitana is basically a milanesa topped like a pizza—it has cheese, ham, tomato, and also comes with fries. It’s a pretty big dish, so you’ll eat a lot. I highly recommend it because it’s my favorite food, and I think it’s the most delicious food in the world.

Another very traditional Argentine food is empanadas. Empanadas are found all over Latin America—they’re in Colombia, I think in Venezuela too, and in other places. But Argentine empanadas are so good, and every country has its own way of making them.

You definitely have to try Argentine empanadas. They’re not very spicy, but that depends on the person and how they like to make them. You can eat empanadas with chicken, beef, and—something a little strange that I personally don’t like—vegetable empanadas.

Another very traditional Argentine food that you won’t find anywhere else is dulce de leche.

What is dulce de leche? Well, literally, the translation is sweet milk, and it’s basically a mix of milk and sugar—but it’s amazing! It has an incredible taste, and it’s similar to something in the U.S. like Nutella or chocolate spread.

In Argentina, we eat a lot of dulce de leche. It’s delicious. In fact, we have dulce de leche ice cream, and many desserts include or are made with this spread. So, you’ll find dulce de leche everywhere.

As always, you can look up an image online to see it. And remember that as soon as you arrive in Argentina, you must try dulce de leche—sí o sí!

And the last food in this post is choripán.

As the name suggests, choripán is bread (pan) with sausage (chorizo). Choripán is very similar to a hot dog—or as we say in Argentina, a pancho—but with a very different taste. The salchicha (sausage), which is the meat inside a pancho, also tastes different, as it’s made from a different kind of meat.

Choripán is usually sold on the street. It’s street food because there are grills—or as we say, parrillas—on the streets where you can buy choripán. You can’t buy an asado there, but still, it’s a traditional Argentine dish that’s very tasty, a little spicy, and I like it a lot.

As always, I want to remind you that if you’re a traveler, someone moving to Argentina, or someone who wants to live in Argentina and you want to learn Spanish with my program, I can help you so you can live here or travel around Argentina. Just click on the “Apply Now” button above.

Nicolas Miño