http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Fri, 16 May 2008 03:24:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-113255 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Barrio of Change Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:14:52 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-113255 [...] leads to a fun riot of color, that while perhaps not as striking (and not as easy to get to) as the Caminito in La Boca, which shows up on postcards and is a regular stop on local tours - mostly so that the guides can [...] […] leads to a fun riot of color, that while perhaps not as striking (and not as easy to get to) as the Caminito in La Boca, which shows up on postcards and is a regular stop on local tours - mostly so that the guides can […]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-1122 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » You Takes Your Chances Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:21:38 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-1122 [...] After lunch, and declining our waiter’s offer to call us a cab, we headed out into a slight drizzle to check out the rest of La Boca. Enroute to the touristy area, we found this building at the corner not far from El Obrero. Hard to see in this photo, but the building has some amazing arched windows and beautiful architecture. A little bit of online research this morning determines that this is the former main electric plant for the city, built in 1916, and bought by the municipal government less than a year ago for five million pesos. A planned thirty million peso renovation is to turn this into the city’s main classical music auditorium. An odd location, no doubt, but part of the renewal of the area and one that will no doubt bring both pluses and minuses to the neighborhood. [...] […] After lunch, and declining our waiter’s offer to call us a cab, we headed out into a slight drizzle to check out the rest of La Boca. Enroute to the touristy area, we found this building at the corner not far from El Obrero. Hard to see in this photo, but the building has some amazing arched windows and beautiful architecture. A little bit of online research this morning determines that this is the former main electric plant for the city, built in 1916, and bought by the municipal government less than a year ago for five million pesos. A planned thirty million peso renovation is to turn this into the city’s main classical music auditorium. An odd location, no doubt, but part of the renewal of the area and one that will no doubt bring both pluses and minuses to the neighborhood. […]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-100 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » O Linda, O Linda Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:40:47 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-100 [...] Pastas seem to be the specialty at this venue, with an interesting and creative sounding selection of 8-10 on the menu, including daily specials. There are other plates available as well, but as this seemed to be the focus, I headed in the general direction of noodles. The raviolini sounded perfect - a filling of goat cheese, ricotta, and cured ham, with an arugula, walnut, and sun-dried tomato pesto. The ravioli were plump and about the size of what we might consider a normal one, small by local standards where they tend to be the size of sofa cushions, but just right in my view. The filling was rich and well seasoned. The pesto was, well, once again, not pesto. One day it might be interesting to see who brought the idea of pesto here and have them burned in effigy. In this case, the sun-dried tomatoes had been blended with olive oil until they were basically a fine powder, and the whole thing became sort of an oily paste. The ravioli were dressed in that and then topped with toasted walnuts and whole arugula leaves. The flavors were right, it was tasty, if a bit oily, it’s just the concept that’s off. [...] […] Pastas seem to be the specialty at this venue, with an interesting and creative sounding selection of 8-10 on the menu, including daily specials. There are other plates available as well, but as this seemed to be the focus, I headed in the general direction of noodles. The raviolini sounded perfect - a filling of goat cheese, ricotta, and cured ham, with an arugula, walnut, and sun-dried tomato pesto. The ravioli were plump and about the size of what we might consider a normal one, small by local standards where they tend to be the size of sofa cushions, but just right in my view. The filling was rich and well seasoned. The pesto was, well, once again, not pesto. One day it might be interesting to see who brought the idea of pesto here and have them burned in effigy. In this case, the sun-dried tomatoes had been blended with olive oil until they were basically a fine powder, and the whole thing became sort of an oily paste. The ravioli were dressed in that and then topped with toasted walnuts and whole arugula leaves. The flavors were right, it was tasty, if a bit oily, it’s just the concept that’s off. […]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-58 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » A Few Interesting Wines Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:27:20 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20050904/the-mouth-of-argentina#comment-58 [...] Buenos Aires - Nothing of major note in the food and wine world has happened (or been made to happen by me) in the last day or two, unless you count that now that I’ve got my kitchen equipment, I whipped up some pesto last night to go with pasta. Pesto here tends to be a strange imitation, like someone once heard about it but doesn’t quite know what it is - usually just pasta tossed with a little olive oil, garlic, and dried basil. I didn’t go for a traditional basil and pinenute one, I used what I had on hand, but got the right consistency for a cilantro and almond pesto served over ricotta and ham stuffed ravioli. [...] […] Buenos Aires - Nothing of major note in the food and wine world has happened (or been made to happen by me) in the last day or two, unless you count that now that I’ve got my kitchen equipment, I whipped up some pesto last night to go with pasta. Pesto here tends to be a strange imitation, like someone once heard about it but doesn’t quite know what it is - usually just pasta tossed with a little olive oil, garlic, and dried basil. I didn’t go for a traditional basil and pinenute one, I used what I had on hand, but got the right consistency for a cilantro and almond pesto served over ricotta and ham stuffed ravioli. […]

]]>