What a turn-out! There must have been 1000 people, almost all at the same time. The IMPA venue handled them all like a breeze. In fact, even with all those humans, the 3rd floor loft was actually cooler than street level.
Everybody's favorite newspaper, the Argentina Independent made some great crowd-control improvements such as collecting the entry fees downstairs ...and the food ticket sales upstairs seemed to be even smoother and faster than last time.
Before even in the gate with food tickets in hand, the buzz of the day was an El Tejano sandwich with a NOLA Chef bloody mary. The buzz was right. A great and hearty combination that gave me the strength venture forth into the other 25 or so offerings!
Sheer glutony and expat cravings then drove me to Ronald Pronk and Kor van Lier's Dutch East Indies specialties for sourdough rye bread with pickled leberwurst and sauerkraut with spicy accoutrement. An ice cold Boudicca beer would have been just the thang at that moment ...but no matter how fast the brewmaster and his minions poured, the lines just got longer and longer. To his great credit, however, I don´t think Bodicca ever ran out of beer.
My Missus raved about Nikita's yogurts and granolas. Creamy and tart and sweet with hand-crunchified grains and nuts all slathered with fresh blueberries. I think I could eat that everyday forever. Another healthy thing to eat everyday forever are the hand made chocolates from Jueves a la Mesa's Meghan Lewis. A jar of her dark fennel/orange/salt flavored deelights made it´s way into my recycled bag.
No hot sauces for sale? Well, to be fair, El Tejano was giving away free samples but with Ya Ya Bean out of Argentina ...La Milagrosa was poised for great exposure! If you love and miss Sriracha sauce, you won´t hesitate to keep a jar or two of La Milagrosa in your fridge like we do. The spicy paste is almost pure red pepper and, although it might put you in mind of an accompaniment to asian dishes, it's really a traditional condiment in Veracruz Mexico.
The vendors were very much the same as in July, no disappointment there! But there were some interesting no-shows from The Indy's list, which now that I look closer seems to be a master list of prior "independent producers."
I suppose there's no need to publish an advance list of vendors ...but with 1000 in the room, navigation was along the lines of finding your way through a wonderland. For those searching for something or someone specific, it was frustrating ...especially if that vendor wasn´t even there in the first place!
Notable among the new vendors this time was Thom to your Door from a Vietnamese expat, bringing Indochine dishes to the mix. Thom is worth watching.
See you at the next B A Underground Market in December! The best culinary event in Buenos Aires.
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