When the cows outnumber the people 2 to 1, you know that you are in for a lot of beef! Argentina has to be the world’s largest per-capita-consumer of beef on the planet. All of the roads are lined with these voracious bovines awaiting the chopping block just to grace a table at a local restaurant. When you enter a restaurant in Argentina, you are greeted by a salad bar adorned with shredded lettuce, oil and vinegar, sliced carrots, and a few other odds and ends that whets the appetite before the main course. The cornerstone and quite literally the center of the restaurant is a large chimney-like barbecue loaded with various cooked animals. You name it, and it would probably be there grilling: whole chickens, steaks, roasts, pork loins, pork chops, chorizo sausage, blood sausage, beef intestines, etc, etc.

I am convinced, after traveling throughout several parts of the country, that the secret to great Argentine barbecue is the local hardwoods that are used to impart a delectable flavor to the meat. Very few spices or flavorings are used with any of the Argentine cuisine, so each restaurant essentially has its own flavor of meat depending upon the wood being used. This country is truly a beef-lovers paradise. Vegetarians need not apply.

If you are in Buenos Aires (BsAs) and are in the mood for a great barbecue (often for a pittance, depending upon the strength of the dollar), may I recommend “Siga La Vaca” translated “Follow the Cow,” located in the restored warehouse section of Puerto Madero. Another great eat affording the best steak of my life was a little dive of a restaurant housed in the dilapidated shell of an 1800’s building outside General Pacheco called “El 22.” Nondescript and rugged, the kitchen served up a mouth-watering medium rare 9 inch long, 1.5 inch thick filet that would have been carved up into three $20 steaks in the US…..all for the whopping price of $3! Bon appetit!