We’re in the heat of the summer and even though bikini season is in full swing here in Argentina and Uruguay, we’ve got our eyes on the future in 2009.  But that doesn’t mean that 2008 won’t come back to haunt us so that’s why I’m here to remind us of the best and worst of 2008 so we can take from the good things and learn from the past so that we don’t let history repeat itself.

BEST OF BA 2008

Democrats Abroad Debate Parties
It was great to see people of all nationalities come together to cheer on the dems in the debates.  Great feats of organization, hand holding, tears of joy, etc etc.

Hair Flowers
Nothing says, “I’m a passionate woman who may have just come from a Latin country” like a flower in your hair.  These little trendy accessories have been around since the Spanish Inquisition however, they’re gaining in popularity again.  Ole!

That perfect little summer dress - in so many shapes and sizes.
What goes better with your little flower in hair accessory than a lovely lazy summer dress.  2008 saw so many designers reinventing that simple dress - some even went very sassy.  Luckily, the right one is out there for anyone who visits this city in the next few months!

Global Awareness
So it’s catching on…earlier this year I reported on the passing of the law for the province of Buenos Aires to start banning the plastic bag. It’s getting easier to see sustainable design here in BA - although we have a long long way to go here, something is better than nothing. I wholeheartedly give my blessing to the continued success of this trend in BA.

Google Maps Reach Argentina
Just a few months ago if you typed in an address in Google Maps for something in Buenos Aires, you would see a big blank page.  Finally, they got the hint and even put in the directions of the streets.  Above and Beyond the call.  Thanks! Google Maps.

WORST OF BA 2008

Poopypants!
Okay, I have to admit, I’ve been seeing these since I first moved here, but I just don’t know how this trend hasn’t stopped.  Seriously peeps, can we not move on?  Friends don’t let other friends wear poopypants.  It’s just not right.

poop! poop!

Fights with the Campo
Mid-year, President Christina took on farmers as they fought for their rights and taxes. This led to the farmers to blockade major routes and stop products from getting to Buenos Aires city.  Shops were without meat, vegetables, low on flours, sugars and other products that come from outside of the capital. Let’s not do this again.

Spare some change?
In the last few years, Argentina (not only BA) has had some problems with spare change - mainly - there isn’t any.  From small shops to large firms, banks and everyone but the bus companies - everyone’s having trouble finding monedas.  But with this economy’s ups and downs it’s worthy to note that the change isn’t even worth the amount of money that it takes to print.

Fires in Ushuaia
Surprisingly, very little notice was given this year to a tragedy at the southernmost city in the world.  Literally hundreds of hectares of forestland have incinerated in the past month due to raging fires in Patagonia.

Visa Fees Announcement for Yanquis
Even though it’s starting in 2009, looks like the Kirchner camp is trying to make a few bucks by playing the reciprocity card.  As of March, 2009, countries that charge a visa application fee will be reciporically charged upon entering the country.  This means you, United States. lookie.

This week, Tuesdays with Dorie turned one years old!  (Yah!) And participating in this week’s TWD is none other than.. Dorie herself!  (So it really is a special Tuesday with Dorie!).  She chose the French Pear Tart - a tart with an almond base, meaning very little flower (apart from the crust) and lots and lots and lots of good flavor.

It’s one of those recipes that I probably would have passed up just for the fact that apart from the berry fruity tart that I made a few months ago, I really don’t like them much.  Aside from that, there were a few things that I found difficult to reproduce - for example, the recipe for the dough of the pie shell relies heavily on having a food processor.  Sad to say, but I’ve never owned one and highly doubt that I could afford one here in BA since the good ones (ahem Phillips) are rediculously expensive.

To make the filling, instructions said again to use a food processor or a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment but the butter wasn’t softening and getting creamy with the sugar, so I just used the paddle attachment while making the batter.  It worked much much better.

I also really couldn’t figure out what she was talking about with how to decorate the pears on the cake (that’s just my inexperience talking) but I invented something pretty anyway. 

In the end, the tart was a great success.  Javier could hardly wait for me to take it out of the oven, the crust came out perfectly, and in the end, it lasted less than two days.  It was eaten right out of the oven and e’er so slightly cooled off, for breakfast, with cream, and dessert with ice cream that Javier’s mother brought over.  Every way was a good way to eat this tart.

I’ll definitely do it again.

I enjoy a good laugh just as much as the next person, but nothing is quite as funny as the dark humor served up at many a local restaurants trying to produce exotic sounding dishes to create an air of sophistication. Think of that “lobster cappucino with white truffle foam” or “apple wood smoked bacon” new century farm eggs and other linguistic concoctions that try to make people think that they’re eating rare cuisine once reserved for Louis the Sixteenth.

I still reel when I think of going into a prestigious Buenos Aires Restaurant called Moshi Moshi - an overpriced restaurant that grew more on a reputation of pretentiousness by people who don’t know sushi rather than quality of food. For dessert, I just had to know what the “Sopa de banana” (banana soup) could be - and upon receiving a half cup of very milky banana milkshake in a shallow bowl with a spoon - I felt like the last laugh was on me. I was served the Banana Fool.

But this seems to be the trend of what people want - the exotic foods (or at least exotic sounding foods) that give people the idea that they are cultured and exotic themselves. You are what you eat, right? To think, when people engage in tourism nowadays, itsn’t the majority of time spent on vacation going out to eat?

Maybe what they really want is to be confused and pretentious at the same time - just to be able to say, “I couldn’t decide between the Boca Negra Cake Affogato and the Asbolt elderflower jelly, “strawberry nage mallow’, white chocolate and Tonka bean parfait!” when they could have easily just said, “I can’t decide between the chocolate volcano cake and the ice cream sundae”. Really, we all have to justify our choices and particularily now in an economic crisis, a two scoop ice cream sundae just isn’t worth $17 if it doesn’t have a rare and exotic name.

It’s getting popular too, to name brands on a menu - from the Sonoma duck to the Harmony Valley Cipollinis & Crosnes to the Primrose Brussels Sprouts and Driftless Organics Mashed Potatoes - nobody will guarantee great food, but surely we’re all impressed by the chef’s extraordinary ability to go out everyday to handpick our food. Certainly you must be getting your money’s worth since YOU won’t be able to make a salad like this at home - piled with so many ingreditents that the menu item begins to look like a supermarket label.

Let’s take a cue from the humble Raymond Blanc, who when talking about his upbringing, “…[I] had the archetypal French bucolic upbringing, in a peasant village in deepest Burgundy”. Also I’m glad to see that he learned his English from leprachauns and fairies. This explains why he is one of the pioneers of rediculous food names. So the next time you order a “Carpaccio” of blood orange with its own sorbet, remember that you could probably feed a starving child for a week for the same amount of money.

For you my dear readers. Merry Christmas!

So this week’s TWD is coming a little late… Last Saturday I made the sugar cookies for this coming Tuesday’s TWD, but never had a chance to actually make the post on Tuesday. Things really are a bit hectic this month with so much going on…

In any case, I decided to use some shredded coconut in the sugar cookies and top it with a simple lemon icing - and the result? PURE HEAVEN in my mouth! About 50 cookies - didn’t even last two days in my house!

It’s my buddy Diego’s sister’s birthday so I’m making a double batch this afternoon and bringing some to the party tonight.

About a month ago, I went with my friend Louise to Natural Deli.  We both had some free time scheduled around our lunch hours - so we decided to head out for a quick stroll and grab something to eat at a neighboring cafe. When we arrived, it was almost 1pm, so the lunch crowd really hadn’t arrived yet.  I just loved the atmosphere with lots of light, tables, a really nice setup around the cash register that really showcased some of their muffins, cookies and dessert cakes that were displayed in a glass refrigerator. It’s a good thing, too that there was a glass separating me and those desserts, or I would have had to try one of each and that would have been disasterous for my spring/summer figure!

It just so happened that two of my friends, Kate and Annette dropped in for brunch at the same time as Louise and I, so I got to see not only how lunch tooked, but breakfast too!  Anyway, Louise and I wanted some of those fresh fruit shakes and their wraps.  Just everything looked so good on the whole menu, I wish I could have ordered one of each!  I finally decided on the Mexican Wrap, which to be honest, was one of the tastiest wraps I have ever had in my entire life (and I know wraps! I used to go to Camille’s in Chicago all the time for lunch!).  The guacamole had just the right amount of spice and zing! Louise ordered a beautifully prepared salad with peppers and mushrooms - just divine looking!  Each plate came piled up so high with salad and a lovely dressing that was not too heavy nor too salty or spiced, it was - in so many words, just right!

Kate and Annette had gone a little traditional with breakfast - and I completely understand why.  Just look at that picture! Big coffees, homemade toasts… yummy!

After lunch, we decided to take a look around the store.  There were all kinds of organic foods, spices, shampoos and cleansers, and much much more imported and local goods.  I was totally impressed.

So when my friends Rebecca and Mojgan wanted to meet for lunch a few weeks ago, I immediately suggested the Natural Deli.  They live a little closer to the ND location in Las Canitas, so we went there instead.  We got there right in the middle of the lunch hour, so our wait was somewhere around 45 minutes to be seated.  There certainly weren’t as many seats, but it is understandable as the whole locale is a lot smaller than its Barrio Norte counterpart.  When we were finally seated, I was so hungry for good food, I could hardly speak.  We each immediately ordered a different shake and unfortunately, only two of the six listed on the menu were available.   Then as we were going to order a variety of wraps, they let us know that not everything we wanted was available - again.  Rebecca couldn’t add chicken to the wrap that she wanted either, nor could she ask for a different kind of wrap without a certain ingredient that her food allergy wouldn’t tolerate.  Oh well, I still promised them good food, and we figured whatever we ordered would be good anyway.

When we finally got our food, I was a little disappointed to say the least.  Yes, the Mexican wrap had the same great flavors, but it was a lot smaller than the one that I got when I was in the Barrio Norte Natural Deli.  And the side salad was pretty skimpy,  with a skimpy dash of oil on top.  I thought that they had run out of lettuce until the couple next to me received their beautiful fresh salads piled high on their plates about 40 minutes later.

So I left thinking, probably the Barrio Norte Natural Deli was much much better.  I had the opportunity to introduce an Argentine friend of mine to my favorite Natural Deli.  She had only been to the local in Las Canitas and had a good experience there so I was excited to be able to show her the locale which I thought was much more light and impressive.  Everything was good - the service, the salads, the fresh bread - everything except the fact that the menu had changed.  I was truly dissappointed to see that some of the interesting shakes had dissappeared along with my favorite Mexican wrap.

We instead tried a wrap with some beef, eggs and mustard that had an exquisite flavor and a salad - one of those piled so high with lettuce, you can’t see the plate - I loved it.  I hope the menu change is something that happens seasonally - as I wasn’t as inspired by the new menu as the old one.

But if that Mexican wrap doesn’t come back, I will have to try my hand at making wraps at home.

bring it back.

I’m catching up on things that I’ve baked recently as well - a few weeks ago, when I went to Pura Vida to meet up with Marty and Andrea and was inspired by my berry berry shake.  When I got home that afternoon, I had a deadline to meet and Javier’s mom called me up to say that her friend, “The Spaniard” was in town and that he would be joining us for dinner that evening.  She asked me if I could make a dessert.

Of course I could!

So being that it was rather warm outside, I decided to make my favorite little tart.  I happened to miraculously find blackberries and blueberries at the Disco in my neighborhood, so just bought some strawberries to go along with it as well. I picked up my Dorie Greenspan book and peruuused until I found the perfect treat.

So here’s the recipe:

1.5 cups Pastry Cream, cooled
1 - 9″ tart shell fully baked and cooled
2 pints fresh berries
1/3 c raspberry jelly mixed with a tsp of water for glazing

Please email me privately if you need to know how to make the cream or tart shell.

Smooth the pastry cream by giving it a couple of strong turns with a whisk.  Spoon enough of the pastry cream into the tart crust to come almost to the rum, then even the surface with a rubber spatula. Carefully lay the berries on the cream, arranging them in any pattern that pleases you.  If you are using strawberries, either halve them from top to bottom or slice them, depending on the size of the berries and your whim.

Bring the jelly and water to a boil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop.  Working with a pastry brush or pastry feather, dab eat berry with a spot of jelly. Or if you’d like, you can glaze the entire surface of the tart, including the bit of pastry cream that peeks through the berries.

Et voila! yummy in your tummy!