I took a very exciting trip up to NW Argentina with my friend Sara who was visiting last week, and gosh did we have a blast up there! I posted a ton of pictures on Facebook with descriptions, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to wrap it up into a "Series of Firsts" Post, since there were a lot of them on this trip, and it was only 3 days long!
1. First lomito sandwich (and hopefully not the last!): This thing is mega-big, and the thing is, I've seen them be twice as big as the one below. I put it next to the coffee cup to give you some perspective on this beast.
It's essentially 500 grams of beef, 3-4 slices of ham, 2 fried eggs, lettuce, tomato and 3-4 slices of cheese. Bronto-burger, as Jer would say. It was not a problem consuming said lomito, but I did NOT need dinner that night, EXCEPT...
2. Let's get serious (LGS from henceforth), friends, I did eat dinner that night. I had my very first bowl of locro. It's one of the local delicacies up north and I couldn't bear the thought of leaving without trying it. A brief description of locro can be found below. My locro had all of the below ingredients as well as goat (cabrito).
Locro is a traditional South American food popular in the countries that lie along the Cordilleraof the Andes Mountains. Locro can be compared to a thick stew or chili. The name comes from the Incan language, Quecha. Locro is a particularly popular dish in Ecuador and Argentina. In these countries, locro is not only a food, but also a custom. Locro was eaten by native peoples of South America previous to the time of Spanish colonization, and continues to be a popular customary dish as of the 21st century.
The typical Argentine locro is based with corn and white beans. Some kind of meat is almost always present in an Argentine locro, and usually the cut used includes the bones, which one must eat around when the locro is served. Other common ingredients include sausage and other vegetables, and the liquid part of the locro is usually made from a thinned puree of squash.
3. I went to my first goat farm.
Leonardo, our amazing cabbie who saved the day after realizing all rental cars in Salta are manual (read: Life Skill Failure), took us to Cafayate, a sweet 4 hour drive with many sights to stop at along the way. Apparently one of those was to include his uncle's goat farm. We stopped, saw goats, hung out and went on our merry way.
4. I saw Amazing scenery. Ok that's a stretch, but I couldn't not include a note about the ridiculous scenery here. I include two pics- one from the vineyards and one on the drive from Salta. Both are distinct from one another, and equally gratifying to look at.
5. First wine gelato and first boozy wine lunch (of 2012, let's be real here):
This trip was a true delight, but it was much too short. I need to go back!
With that said, I am looking forward to the next trip- 7 days in Patagonia from March 2-10 (Ushuaia and El Calafate)..stay tuned!
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