Eating in Argentina; or, How Not To Lose Weight

Here in America, we are often lamenting over the terrible eating and lack-of-exercise habits that have resulted in what we call our "obesity epidemic." One of the things we like to blame a lot for our weight problem is the size of our meal portions, particularly when we go out to restaurants. Anyone who has ever been to Claim Jumper knows exactly what I'm talking about, and if you haven't been, don't start now! You could gain a few pounds just by looking at their ridiculously gooey, six-layer Chocolate Motherlode Cake. (For the record, this dessert is listed on Claim Jumper's menu under the heading "Sweets for Sharing", but honestly folks, it's too big even for two people. Or three. Or five.)

So anyway, I have thought for a long time now that America was the world leader in eating more food at a single sitting than one might think humanly possible. Argentina broadened my understanding of this issue — to say nothing of my waistline.

On one of my first nights in Buenos Aires with the creative writing program, I went out to dinner with a few of the students and one of them ordered a calzone. Here it is:



The guy who ordered it said, "I asked for the small." I nearly choked. And then my food arrived:



Yes, that is a baked potato, and yes, it was roughly the size of my entire head. I mean, it was good, but wow.

From a restaurant outside of Buenos Aires, here's a version of a caprese salad, which a friend of mine ordered in an effort to be somewhat healthy:



As you can see, that is pretty much just a big bowl of cheese, with a few tomatoes and olives thrown in for color. So much for healthy.

I honestly think the only thing that kept me from having to buy a whole new wardrobe when I got home was the fact that I tried to walk everywhere we had to go, instead of taking taxis. Even so, when I got home I had to spend a few days eating nothing but salads, and I couldn't even let myself THINK of the word "empanada." Ugh.

By the way, if you are surprised that I haven't mentioned anything about the one food Argentina is famous for outside of Argentina (i.e., BEEF), well, the truth is, I was kind of surprised myself that it wasn't as big of a deal as I was expecting. Most of the restaurants I went to in Buenos Aires offered cuisine that showed the influence of the region's Italian heritage — milanesa, pastas, calzones (see above!), that kind of thing. There were vegetarians on our trip, and they didn't seem to have any problem finding good stuff to eat, so there's certainly no need to write Buenos Aires off as a destination if you're not carnivorous. (That said, I still managed to eat more meat in the few weeks I spent in Argentina than I have in about a year. Not an exaggeration).

Well, I think I've talked enough about food for one day. Next time, we'll take a look at — I don't know, I haven't decided yet. Something besides eating, though. I promise!