CheGuevara

yes, cattle probably did come with spanish immigrants which i believe came in the late 1400's. nevertheless, the tradition of asado as we know it today is much more recent. gauchos always had the tradition of eating meat as they roamed the pampas, but as far as the history i know of, the cuts we have today come from the time of the british cattle. asado is also the name of a cut of beef found only in argentina, and it appears to be that these were the "leftovers" which the english did not eat due to their bone and fat content. i'd have to disagree with you one the "one-note" comment. the food is varied and of excellent quality, yet by no means refined. as one example, there are over 12-15 cuts of beef, not including offal, from the cow alone and each is distinct in texture and flavour. logically if you have steak all the time, it gets tiring - even for an argentine. we have excellent fish as well. argentina has a wonderful home cuisine. i find it amusing that in the US and here when you order a salad it comes off the menu...it is its own recipe (barring nicoise, waldorf, etc.). in argentina, as in italy, salads are ordered by ingredient. the dressing, is lemon or vinegar and oil or olive oil. that's how you cook at home, not through a recipe, but by understanding how to compose a balanced meal out of a few simple ingredients. -che edit: first sentence should probably read "spanish colonisers"

when i say that argentina has no marked cuisine, it is because it is made up of foreing influences as explained in my earlier post. pasta, stews, tortilla de papas, milanesa (breaded veal) - are italian, spanish, not argentine. nevertheless, it is definitely not latin. if you move away from the steak-house routine, then add traditional argentine recipes, the things you'd find in a local restaurant. i could mention them, but you would recognise it simply as home cooking. i would serve up offal - we serve pretty much the entire cow in argentina - for example, i'd make my own chorizos and morcilla (black pudding), serve the treaditional peasant locro, make home made rogel (dulce de leche based cake), etc. i must say that there are a number of excellent new restaurants in argentina at the moment. the chefs are really doing incredible things with local produce and inspiration. edit: buit you'd recognise it as french technique for lack of a better description. -che

i'm glad you find it interesting. it's made me want to do some more research on my own country's culinary history. maybe i should write an article on it. -che

what they've added is not particularly argentine - it is south american or more precisely "latino". it was patria chef rodriguez who consulted gaucho grill on its "non-steak" part of the menu. you mentioned the argentine wines, and it is something i forgot to comment on in my post. the list is extensive and quite good, maschler fails to mention but one wine. today argentina is producing incredibly good wines, and they are earning a desrved reputation outside of the country. gaucho grill offers over 70. argentine food has had three major influences. the first were the inhabitants, called criollos in argentina. these have provided the only indigenous food, based on corn and manioc such as humita (on the gaucho grill menu) and locro (stew) among others. these would be the only recipes which bear any resemblence to our neighbors and what is commonly known as "latin cuisine". the second influence comes from the colonial britain, who came to argentina in the mid 1800's and brought aberdeen and hereford steers. this gave the us our passion for meat, and it was the preference of british landowners for cuts of beef with higher meat content. the gauchos (or criollo cowboys) ate what the landowners didn't and thus we have now a wonderful selection of cuts, aside from sirloin and filet, which have bone and fat. the third influnece comes from european immigration in the 1900's, primarily spanish, italian and to a lesser extent french. this has given us our modern cuisine. (tortilla de papas is very typical argentine to us, and it is practically a spanish institution.) our food is a melting-pot of european recipes with a preference for meat over fish. as good as our fish is, it does not to me form part of argentine cuisine. then again, go to any of the excellent basque restaurants in buenos aires, and you'll have spectacular fish and shellfish. ethnic cooking is non-existent, except for the odd chinese and now japanese. forget indian, thai, middle eastern, creole, etc. we eat simple food at home and simple food in the restaurants (buenos aires the exception), we are not imaginative as a nation, but we do have great produce and incredible meat. so good, that you grab any piece of meat, put salt on it, throw some vegetables in the pan, chuck it in the oven and you can't go wrong. the meat will never be tough or dry. -che

Where? Do tell ! I've found a decent breakfast for around £2.00 (Smiths of Smithfields) but nice cheap lunch remains elusive. on goldborne road there are two food vans - the second one, if you're walking east from portobello road is my preferred. you can have soup for 1.50, tagine for 1.50 or 2.00 and mint tea for 0.50, all dishes are served with plenty of bread and harisa. they have some good sandwiches as well. while you're in the neighborhood, you should try the portuguese croissants - very similar to what we have in aragentina - a yellow dough, partly sweet and dense. excellent with ham and cheese. clb - me grocer is on talbot road off of portobello (west). very interesting concept. -che

That's very odd as I've always thought Americans take their coffee with dessert--that is those who don't drink coffee straight through the meal. The worst of it is that I've been asked in some of the best restaurants in NY, for my coffee order when my dessert order is taken, or even before. Even four star (NY Times rated) French restaurants in NY have taken to expecting a coffee order with dessert. you're very right - in the US they do take coffee with dessert - usually it even comes before. in italy, coffee comes after, always. and grappa, limoncello, mirto - any digestivo comes at the end. if it weren't the end, you'd still be on wine or beer. -che

marco_polo - is antopnio tombolini the guy who brought buffalo mozzarella to london restaurants and made a fortune in the process? -che

islington is quite a foodie place - with steve hatt, la fromagerie, a decent italian deli all within alking distance. i'm sure there's a butcher around as well. notting hill is an excellent option as well with the market open 4 days of the week, a decent fishmonger on goldborne rd (where else can you have lunch in central london for £1.50?), lidgates butcher on holland park and now st. johns bread at "me grocer". oh yes, and books for cooks. -che

i should start by qualifying myself, as many here don't necessarily know that i'm from argentina; a relevant characteristic considering i'm about to give my views on a recent review of an argentine restaurant in london, the gaucho grill. the review can be accessed via the weekly media roundup. fay maschler's review is bland, disorganised, and lacks a clear point. she spends roughly a quarter of the short review on introducing the new influence in gaucho grill's menu; nuevo latino and the NY stalwart of this movement, d. rodriguez. after such an introduction i would expect a more profound conclusion than: "...but the new menu does succeed in providing an enlightened look at other South American possibilities, nuevo ones even." does the menu work in the context of an argentine restaurant outside of its homeland? do the nuevo latino dishes sit well alongside the integrity and grass-roots attitude of argentine steak (what else do we go to "gaucho grill" for)? can an argentine restaurant (outside of argentina manned by non-argentine chefs) dress these clothes? answering these questions was going to be the point of her article, or so her introduction lead the reader to believe. i should take a step back here and place you in, along, my thought process. andy's review on vineet bhatia's new venture begins with the duality of authenticity - should or shouldn't it be the measure of things. for a balanced view on this issue read his review; to follow my thoughts read on. authenticity is very important, its like a brand that carries with it emotions and perceptions taht ensure us of its quality, tradition, its history and longevity. in food it is a testament to the tried and tested; a thousand palate's seal of approval. however important it should not become a measure of success - doing so would stifle creativity - but it serves as a critical reference point by which we can critique. fay maschler lacks this reference point. she is so far out of her depth that she can't even begin to ponder the virtues or lack thereof of an argentine restaurant. restaurants brand themselves as italian or argentine only when traveling abroad, in order to qualify their offering and deliver preconceived expectations. argentina does not have a marked cuisine and thus all restaurants outside of my homeland are sold as steak-houses (foolishly i think because more than one menu could be put together without any steak involved). to me you either have an argentinian trained chef at the helm (as a note, francis mallman won the grand prix the same year as gagnaire, a year before ramsay) cooking his cuisine, or you abide by authenticity to guide your menu. on the former a critic can amuse us with the particular reaction of his tastebuds, on the latter any critic needs a reference point for the content to be of value. -che

is this where i would include comments to one of the reviews? need to check the etiquette forums around here. -che

i keep hearing good things about ocado - but yes they are tied-in to waitrose. -che edit: do you find the weekly box convenient?

yes - mr. gordon's reports are funded by the large retailers. what's staggering is 70% of the total spent on groceries is in one of the 9 supermarkets, and it is only set to increase. -che

in an older thread tarka mentioned "farmaround" as a good source, primarily for produce. i'm interested in finding out what other similar options are out there, and if anyone has any feedback/recommendations. thanks! -che

nullomodo - peperonata is an italian dish made primarily of peppers. there are a number of variations, however the classis is: peeled and chopped tomatoes, sliced onions and peppers deseeded, cut lengthwise into strips are cooked covered in olive oil and salt for about an hour or more. finish with a little bit of vinegar. eat hot or cold. -che

hansen's on fulham is a restaurant purveyor with tons of utensils...there is another one in soho which i can't remember the name to - im sure someone here will know. -che

edit - MG has beat me to it...but, there's a good store on fulham road called Hansen's - 306 fulham rd. -che

yet another great lunch at SJBW - time does not permit me to go into any details...i will say the skate with samphire was excellent. cooked in butter, nutty and moist. the samphire was crisp, served with shallots, parsley and capers. all on a white plate...and half a lemon of course. simplicity is so rewarding. i couldn't leave without trying the strawberry ice cream - three large scoops of pinkish cream. it never fails, good or bad, SJBW delivers taste. -che

they are up to #6 now - was in there over the week-end. the first three are in one book. -che

that is very respectable, gutsy i would even say. possibly part of conran's "deserves to succeed" comment. and rightly so. -che

is bhatia in the kitchen? seems like he is trying hard to amortise his pacojet -che

it's not uncommon to see service charges added to the bill, primarily for large parties of 6 or more, usually between 17.5 - 20%. sometimes if they consider you a toursist they will also levy a charge. in the US, by law, they must inform you of the service charge in the menu. the problem in the US is that waiting staff - one of a few occupations - are paid a total compensation made up of wage and tips. the combination must equal or exceed the national minimum wage, thus allowing establishments to pay below minimum wage in expectance of the difference being covered by tips. not all but most restaurants follow this practice, thus customers are covering roughly 15% (standard) of the waiter's wages. the result has been an expectancy for something which was always seen as an additional reward for hard work; so we see a decline in the level of service coupled with an increase in the cost of eating out. i'm completely against non-discretionary tipping, i have no desire to cover the restaurant's costs at the expense of the wiaters and service provided to me. -che

rabbit is probably one of my favourite animals to cook - if you can get your hands on some wild rabbit, the difference in flavor is a substantial improvement.

I hear that also about Argentinian beef - but how do we test it? Where's the place to go in London? can i say first that i'm appalled at my spelling...as to the place - it would have to be at my place. no argentine restaurant does it jsutice. unfortunately legislation does not allow for meat on the bone to be imported into the country, and those are the best cuts. we do an "asado de tira" which are the ribs cut lengthwise so you're left with a long, thin strip of beef - bone - beef- bone - beef - bone...you get the idea; it is like nothing else. there happens to be some in my freezer, i have no idea how it got there. other than that, you can get quite excellent argentine meat at smithfields - and some butchers. (i know of one) -che

i'm almost half of the way through it and it is quite a work. the writing is weak, yet its passionate and not tedious, and thus does its job very well - and is thorough as hell. you'll thoroughly enjoy it, and i suggest you read it as you would a novel. i am disappointed he makes no mention of argentine meat - clearly the best in there is - but since it's of scottish decent i'll let it pass. -che

it's either my poor memory, or my indulgence in cheap media, that prohibits me from remembering less than pop-ular chefs -che