Welcome to Tastes of Argentina, a website dedicated to the food and recipes of this vibrant South American country. Relatively recent visitors to South America and Argentina, we were struck by the diversity in the type of food eaten in this huge country and wanted to spread the word. Argentinians are a race of people who clearly enjoy their food and, within South America, this is one of their best known traits.
The history of Argentina over the last 500 hundred years or so is a story of indigenous Indian tribes followed by Spanish settlers who dominated the country culturally between the 16th and 19th centuries. At the end of the 19th century another wave of Southern European immigrants settled in Argentina, bringing with them increasingly diverse influences. In the 20th century, it was the northern Europeans who began to integrate and influence Argentinean culture; Brits and Germans brought food which was significantly different from what had gone before.
The Argentinean diet is very high protein and one can argue that this is influenced by the nature of the country itself – it’s vast space and copious grasslands have ensured huge cattle and pork industries, resulting in high quality beef and pork products. The proliferation of beef and pork means that the Asado is an occasion around which much of Argentinean social life is based. Asado refers to a social barbeque event and also to the techniques of barbeque cooking. Portuguese in origin, the Asado is not limited to Argentina – it’s a also a Brazilian custom as one might expect from a country with a deep Portuguese influence.
On this site we bring you Argentinean recipes, stories of South American food and it’s influences and anything else interesting and food-related from this region. Looking for something else? Argentina is well known regionally for it’s luxurious casinos. Play Blackjack, Poker and Slots to your heart’s content - give it a try, you won’t regret it. Check back regularly for updates!