“Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven.”

– Yiddish proverb

Adrogué – It was back to the suburbs with yet another mission, the first one having been interesting, and perhaps filling, but not… fulfilling. This time, it was a mission of learning. For the last couple of years, I’ve been hearing about a little B&B out in Adrogué that doubles as a cooking school – numerous customers have mentioned it, quite a few have either stayed there or been out to take classes. Teresita and I have corresponded a couple of times, recently, and decided it was about time we meet. Normally, she offers late morning classes where she teaches a trio of dishes related to a particular cuisine. I asked if I could pick and choose a bit, in particular, I was interested in the three different types of pan criollo, or country breads, that she teaches in the three different classes. She agreed, we set a date, a friend agreed to join me for the jaunt, and last Tuesday morning found us off on the train to the south.

The spot is on a quiet little side street a few blocks from the train station. It’s a peaceful, tranquil locale, and the B&B truly is small – a guest house behind her own home available for two people to stay in – a beautiful garden filled with trees and orchids, one of her hobbies. Classes are available for up to three people at a time, and are held any day, by appointment – the B&B and the classes are separate entities – you can take advantage of either or both. We had a great time learning to make some unusual breads – at least for me – a pão de queijo from Brazil, chipas from northern Argentina, and we were going to make a fairly straightforward pan criollo, but rather than go with something that basic, since both of us make breads already, Teresita offered to teach us her two types of empanadas doughs, one for the oven, one for frying. I’m afraid I’m not going to give you any recipes. They’re Teresita’s, not mine to give out, and hers to teach. It’s worth the trip, and worth the price. My friend even decided that he and his wife might take advantage of some available days here and there and just get out of Buenos Aires for a quiet get-away now and again. Hey, maybe Henry and I will do the same.

Pan de Queijo and Chipas
Baked and fried empanadas

…and, lunch, bread-heavy and delicious!