Famous Street Foods in Argentina

Choripan (Chori)

Choripán is Argentina’s most recognizable street food. It is one of those ubiquitous cultural icons that unites a country, regardless of people’s socioeconomic status. The choripán or chori is said to be the product of the mid-19th century when gauchos (cowboys) used to eat sausage on bread that was toasted on open grills. This new form of

sandwich is a chorizo-style sausage served on French bread. The bread can be whole or split vertically into two parts and grilled again. The dish later moved to the cities where it became popular. Two centuries later, it is now a key part of street food, a delicious Argentine classic. The usual Argentine dressing for choripán is chimichurri , a sauce made with garlic, marjoram, red pepper, oil, and vinegar, according to the traditional recipe. One story claims that the name comes from Jimmy McCurry, an Irishman sympathetic to the cause of Argentine independence who is said to have first prepared the sauce when marching with General BelgranoÊs troops in the 19th century. As his name was difficult for the native people to say, the name was corrupted to chimichurri.

Grilled Meats

But the real tradition in Argentina has always been, and will be, the grill. In several working-class neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, like La Boca or Mataderos and also near the big meat-packaging plants, there are many little hole-in-the-wall parrillas where standing to eat is commonplace. These spots are little more than stand-up lunch counters, where workers on a quick break can cram in a choripán (sausage sandwich), a vaciopan (flank steak sandwich), or a huge slice of pizza. Pizza canchera, along with others, is more like a calzone, that is, a flat dough filled with cheese or meats, then folded over and baked. Another favorite is Buenos Aires classic fainá (a baked flatbread made with ground chickpea flour often used as a base for pizza). For larger meals, the gauchos (cowboys) of the Pampas invented the asado. These are large wood-fired grills on which all sorts of meats, including intestines, are cooked. It is considered to be ArgentinaÊs national dish and can be considered as street food only when it is served at festivals. Today riverside carritos offer a quite sophisticated range of parrilla options: from sandwiches to small plates, including the different types of sausages: chorizo , morcilla , salchicha parrillera , as well as various cuts of meat, both beef and pork.

The most recent development that now rivals parilla and choripán in popularity is the bondiola sandwich or bondipan. It is a slice of roasted pork shoulder served in bread and accompanied by lemon juice. Some carts have a few plastic tables and chairs, but most people eat standing up by the bar, in public benches, or inside their cars.

Sweet Breads

Carritos are also found in different parts of the sprawling Parque Tres de Febrero and handicraft fairs like Recoleta, where they often share space with coffee vendors (the coffee is very sweet). Aside from serving sandwiches, they offer mixtures of Spanish and French patisserie, among which are vigilantes (long shaped, with custard), regular butter croissants and sweeter ones dipped in sugar syrup, tortitas negras (sweet dough baked with milk and covered with brown sugar), at relatively low prices. They can also be found at the entrance of hospitals and train stations. At
the amusement parks, the vending stalls and vendors offer treats for children: snowflake sugar, caramelized apples with popcorn, figs in syrup on brochette sticks, ice creams, and a local specialty: alfajores (two round sweet biscuits joined together with mousse, dulce de leche (caramel), or jam and coated with black or white chocolate).

Chipas

The chipa comes from the Mesopotamian region between Northern Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. These cheese buns or cheese bread are a variety of small, baked manioc flour and cheese-flavored rolls, an inexpensive snack that is often sold from street-side stands or by vendors carrying heat-preserving containers. A relatively new kind of street dish is grilled bread similar to the Indian chapati that is prepared mainly by women vendors near the city railway stations.

Mostly women vendors grill this white bread by the railway stations that dot the city. Early in the morning, the vendor uses a grill built from half a 200-liter barrel and a barbecue-like rack over a burning coal fire to make delicious comfort food that is not especially healthy.

Salsa Criolla and Other Toppings

Although not a separate street food, almost all vendors serve s alsa criolla with their dishes. It is basically chopped onion, tomato, red and green pepper with vinegar, and oil. Other toppings for street dishes include mayonnaise, mustard (American style), ketchup (sweet, not hot), salsa golf (thought to be a local invention that is made by simply

mixing ketchup and mayonnaise), pickled vegetables, lluvia de papas (crumbled potato crisps showered as a topping on such dishes as súper panchos or hot dogs and hamburgers), tomato and lettuce, chopped canned mushrooms, and crumbled bacon.