Sometimes it seems that all we do here is eat & drink. I'm not complaining.
Last week in Cafayate we got to longing for pork chops, so we dropped by a Super Pollo on Calle Calchaqui near the plaza. The signs on the wall said cerdo (pork) but listed no prices. We took a number & waited while others bought unbelievable amounts of bife (beef) & some pollo (poultry). I also studied the carved-up vaca (cow) chart & picked out the useful fact that lomo means loin.
When a fellow behind the counter called out ochenta y dos (#82), I asked whether he had lomo de cerdo. Yes, he did, so I asked whether it had os (bone) or not. Both, he said, so yippee, I asked for 2 bone-in loin pork chops. He looked in the chest freezer & found no pork, so he headed into the walk-in freezer & returned shortly with a frozen bone-in pork loin. After cutting a thin chop, he held it up for me to see. Demasiado delgado (too thin), I said. ¿Mas grueso (thicker)? he asked. Sí, I said. We walked out with 2 thick chops that cost us 15 pesos. They were delicious.
Every time we come to Salta, we stop at a hole-in-the-wall cheese shop on San Martin for a half kilo of white, semi-hard, goat cheese that we break easily into chunks & eat off & on all day. To find the shop, cruise the north side of the 800 block.
Our jaunt along San Martin was in search of a colchón (mattress), 2 por 2 (2 meters square). Numerous folks told us to go to MaxiKing, but we found MaxiKing's mattresses too duro (hard) for us. We are bony, & I am arthritic. It was odd to find at least 5 stores all selling MaxiKing brand within 2 blocks, but Salta & Buenos Aires are like this. They have single-use shopping districts. We walked through the music & the bookstore shopping districts in Buenos Aires a few weeks ago.
Because our favorite mattress ever was a Simmons, we trekked over to Alto NOA shopping mall at 6 PM & sprawled on a few Beauty Rests. Blandito (soft), we kept saying. Yup, we found one we liked, only 6+K pesos, at least 4 times the price of a high-end MaxiKing, but hey, we sleep a lot. Fascinating to learn that getting a mattress delivered to Cafayate costs only about 150 pesos.
Friends told us today that when we go Simmons to buy the mattress, we should tell them what we want, offer 5K pesos cash, & see what happens. They also told us about buying their new camioneta (pickup). They withdrew cash of the ATM for days on end & borrowed cash from everyone they knew & went to the car dealer with cash, the only way to get a good price, that is to say a good price here, where cars are not cheap.
On the way back from Vaqueros, the same taxi driver recommended a lunch place, Charrua, muy muy bueno, he said, so we went. It's on the corner of Caseros & Vicente Lopez. Of course we were the first ones there, but wow, it filled to bursting by the time we left. Couples, families with children, multi-generational families, etc., & most of them seemed to be regular customers.
Because we pigged out on bife de chorizo last night at La Lenita on Balcarce, we ate pollo today. Mike's meal was a fabulous pollo al ajillo con papas. After the first taste, he said he could now translate ajillo (garlic). His papas (potatoes) were thin rounds cooked golden & semi-crispy. I only ate 2, because I was scarfing down my pollo curry which came in a baked basket made of herbed cracker dough (exquisite) along with rice & sauteed red/green/yellow sweet peppers. For all this plus bread with condiments, a half liter of vino tinto, & a bottle of agua con gas, la cuenta (bill) came to 88 pesos.
The waiter at Charrua, like many waiters here, ask where we're from & what we're doing here. Our answers of Hawaii & building a house in Cafayate bring smiles. In the middle of last night's meal, the waiter gave us a regalo (gift) of steaming hot, fresh-made empanadas. The Charrua waiter today gave us regalos of limoncello, an icy cold lemon-flavored drink served in liqueur glasses, absolutely delicious. I look forward to buying a bottle.
For tonight, I'm thinking 1 tamale & 1 glass of wine. Moderation, right?
Last week in Cafayate we got to longing for pork chops, so we dropped by a Super Pollo on Calle Calchaqui near the plaza. The signs on the wall said cerdo (pork) but listed no prices. We took a number & waited while others bought unbelievable amounts of bife (beef) & some pollo (poultry). I also studied the carved-up vaca (cow) chart & picked out the useful fact that lomo means loin.
When a fellow behind the counter called out ochenta y dos (#82), I asked whether he had lomo de cerdo. Yes, he did, so I asked whether it had os (bone) or not. Both, he said, so yippee, I asked for 2 bone-in loin pork chops. He looked in the chest freezer & found no pork, so he headed into the walk-in freezer & returned shortly with a frozen bone-in pork loin. After cutting a thin chop, he held it up for me to see. Demasiado delgado (too thin), I said. ¿Mas grueso (thicker)? he asked. Sí, I said. We walked out with 2 thick chops that cost us 15 pesos. They were delicious.
Every time we come to Salta, we stop at a hole-in-the-wall cheese shop on San Martin for a half kilo of white, semi-hard, goat cheese that we break easily into chunks & eat off & on all day. To find the shop, cruise the north side of the 800 block.
Our jaunt along San Martin was in search of a colchón (mattress), 2 por 2 (2 meters square). Numerous folks told us to go to MaxiKing, but we found MaxiKing's mattresses too duro (hard) for us. We are bony, & I am arthritic. It was odd to find at least 5 stores all selling MaxiKing brand within 2 blocks, but Salta & Buenos Aires are like this. They have single-use shopping districts. We walked through the music & the bookstore shopping districts in Buenos Aires a few weeks ago.
Because our favorite mattress ever was a Simmons, we trekked over to Alto NOA shopping mall at 6 PM & sprawled on a few Beauty Rests. Blandito (soft), we kept saying. Yup, we found one we liked, only 6+K pesos, at least 4 times the price of a high-end MaxiKing, but hey, we sleep a lot. Fascinating to learn that getting a mattress delivered to Cafayate costs only about 150 pesos.
Friends told us today that when we go Simmons to buy the mattress, we should tell them what we want, offer 5K pesos cash, & see what happens. They also told us about buying their new camioneta (pickup). They withdrew cash of the ATM for days on end & borrowed cash from everyone they knew & went to the car dealer with cash, the only way to get a good price, that is to say a good price here, where cars are not cheap.
On the way back from Vaqueros, the same taxi driver recommended a lunch place, Charrua, muy muy bueno, he said, so we went. It's on the corner of Caseros & Vicente Lopez. Of course we were the first ones there, but wow, it filled to bursting by the time we left. Couples, families with children, multi-generational families, etc., & most of them seemed to be regular customers.
Because we pigged out on bife de chorizo last night at La Lenita on Balcarce, we ate pollo today. Mike's meal was a fabulous pollo al ajillo con papas. After the first taste, he said he could now translate ajillo (garlic). His papas (potatoes) were thin rounds cooked golden & semi-crispy. I only ate 2, because I was scarfing down my pollo curry which came in a baked basket made of herbed cracker dough (exquisite) along with rice & sauteed red/green/yellow sweet peppers. For all this plus bread with condiments, a half liter of vino tinto, & a bottle of agua con gas, la cuenta (bill) came to 88 pesos.
The waiter at Charrua, like many waiters here, ask where we're from & what we're doing here. Our answers of Hawaii & building a house in Cafayate bring smiles. In the middle of last night's meal, the waiter gave us a regalo (gift) of steaming hot, fresh-made empanadas. The Charrua waiter today gave us regalos of limoncello, an icy cold lemon-flavored drink served in liqueur glasses, absolutely delicious. I look forward to buying a bottle.
For tonight, I'm thinking 1 tamale & 1 glass of wine. Moderation, right?
