Buenos Aires – No, not “loco”… Locro is a delicious stew of corn, potatoes, squash, and a bit of meat, all marinated and slowly braised. It is classic cuisine from the north of Argentina, and also from the surrounding areas. (More as I get a chance to research it.) We dropped in at a little hole-in-the-wall, Ña Serapia, Av. de las Heras 3357, enroute to the Japanese Garden, to have a bite of lunch. Not, according to Henry, a particularly good locro, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Somewhere along the line here I’ll play with some recipes and come up with one to share! [Closed permanently during the pandemic]
Friday night we were invited over to the home of my new Peruvian friends. Dinner was simple takeout “Peruvian chicken”, basically a roast chicken that is basted with soy sauce (big Japanese population in Peru). We also opened and shared a bottle of Finca la Celia Cabernet Franc 2001. This is a winery I wasn’t familiar with, so, finally, something completely new! The wine was powerful and delicious! The current release is apparently 2003, so it was nice to try one with a couple of years of age on it – given it’s depth, I’d guess the current release is way too young to drink.
A cozy but inviting and warm apartment, which my friends kept pointing out to me was very small and cost them lots of money for what it is. An interesting note… I always hear as I travel about how Americans constantly talk about money – what they make and such. Interestingly, that seems to be one of the major criticisms of us here in Argentina. Strangely though, virtually all the locals I’ve encountered, both on this visit and my last, talk about little else than how hard they work and how little money they make. Maybe the difference is that in a culture where the economy is so depressed, when we talk about it, it seems like bragging?
[…] The locro, which has become a favorite stew, does not surpass the recipe I provided recently. In fact, it doesn’t surpass the very first locro I tried that Henry thought was barely edible. I doubt it would surpass a canned version from Campbell’s. It was little more than pureed squash with some corn, white beans, and gristly bits of meat and bacon. It was completely unseasoned. The only thing that made it palatable was the serving on the side of a sort of green onion salsa that wasn’t bad, a dish of hot pepper flakes, and a salt shaker. And it was still pretty uninteresting. I’ll stick with the 5 peso locros thank you. […]
[…] most with outside seating, lining the fair, offering up delicious Argentine regional treats such as locro, asado, tamales, and torta […]
I’ve never had the locro at Ña Serapia, but trust me when I say that their Tamales are some of the best in town. Much better than the ones at El Sanjuanino.
Try 1810 @ Guatemala and Julian Alverez. Locro is great, tastes a lot like casole (sp. french baked bean dish). Tamales are excellent also.
Yes, I’ve been to 1810 a couple of times, though not tried the locro in particular. Locro and cassoulet are similar in many ways (slow cooked legumes with sausages and meats) and different (primarily in the corn and squash versus bean base, and spices) , though, I suppose one could say that of a variety of dishes from around the world when it comes down to that, no?
Sure. In a stew paprika means Hungarian, Cumin makes it Mexican and Currie powder gives you Indian.
[…] way back when, the first time I ever tried locro was at a little hole-in-the-wall, Ña Serapia, Av. Las Heras 3357 here in Barrio Norte. I’ve […]
[…] most with outside seating, lining the fair, offering up delicious Argentine regional treats such as locro, asado, tamales, and torta […]