Nancy MedicaOutsourcing with an Argentinean partner is great! Do you want to know why? You get to know a very interesting culture all the way down in the very South of Latin America. On your visits to Argentina, you will want to sample famous Argentine asado, drink mate for tea time and dance some folklore at night, like a porteño.
Go to a Parrilla
It’s pretty common to hear people say that beef in Argentina is the best in the world, and let’s face it, it is. Well, we recommend you experience being at a parrilla, try different cuts and dress your meat with some chimichurri. This can’t be great if you don’t complete your meal with the wine that oenologists say is the finest in the world: Argentine Malbec. Oh, and don’t forget flan as dessert.
- Cabaña Las Lilas, Alicia Moreau De Justo 516, Puerto Madero
- Dale Perejil Al Toro, Estado de Israel 4483, Villa Crespo
- La Cabrera, Cabrera 5127, Palermo Soho
Go to a Peña
A real immersion in Argentine culture and gastronomy, Buenos Aires can show you some interesting peñas, similar to the ones that you can find in the North of Argentina. What is a peña folclórica? They are fun places where you can try food (locros), wine and listen to folklore. The environment is always joyful and happy and you can sing and dance traditional music, which is not tango. Pericón, Gato, Zamba are some of the dances you try at the peñas.
- La Peña del Colorado (Guemes 3657, Palermo)
- Los Cardones (Borges 2180, Palermo, Buenos Aires)
- La Casa de los Chillado Biaus (Uriarte 2426, Palermo)
Drink Mate
If you are in Buenos Aires, you should also try what the Argentines have for breakfast, tea time and even in breaks during the day – Mate!
Mate is an infused drink prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. It is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. Mate is normally sipped at home and at work. You can have this popular drink with merienda in the afternoon, together with some facturas or bizcochitos.
- Cumaná: Rodríguez Peña 1149, Recoleta
- Cusic: El Salvador 6016, Palermo
- Las Cholas: Arce 306, Cañitas
Now you have no excuses when outsourcing with an Argentine partner, you can eat and drink as a real porteño does!
Nancy Medica is Communications Manager for Making Sense, with offices in Argentina and Texas.
I will disagree here. Portenos do not like folklore or penas. They like tango and milonga.
It’s like telling people that, if they visit Chicago, they should go to a country music festival. People in Chicago like gospel and blues, not country music. People in BA city like tango and milonga, not folklore.
Of course, I’m talking in general. You will be able to find exceptions. But this is important since this exemplifies an important bit of the Argentine ideosyncracy: BA city vs the rest of Argentina. Unitarios vs Federales.
As part of my professional experience I have been in charge of traveling with US and European managers visiting their Argentina based teams, sorting out any cultural differences and making sure they had a good time; as well as bridging the gap between BA based teams with teams based in other parts of the country, so believe me when I say that I know what I’m talking about 😉
Thanks Sergio for your comment, I believe we discuss a lot about Argentine culture, which is really vast. In this case in particular, I did not want to include tango because it is a well known subject abroad. That's why I chose peñas, a large number of porteños go to peñas in Buenos Aires, as well as tourists that don't have the chance to travel North. Either way, we are a variety of cultures, and that's our charm 🙂