Peso Doomsday Clock?

Everybody's still waiting on midnight ...the Argentine peso hit $11.55 to $1 US dollar today.

The peso broke the psychological barrier back in May, breaching 10 to 1, but the government fought to bring it back down.  They did very well at that, much better than I thought would happen.  Well, here we are 8 months later and we are back above 10, back above 11, and hovering about 12.

To the average Argentine, it appears that the national treasury has "let go of the rope" as far as defending the peso is concerned.

What that will mean to peso-earning people everywhere in this country is uncertain.

What that will mean to policy decisions is what we are all waiting for.

Why Almagro is the BEST (#378 in a series)

You need another reason why Almagro is the best barrio in a huge city of great barrios?  Well, how 'bout:

La Casa de las Aceitunas

at Guardia Vieja 3602 (esq. Billinghurst)
Phone: 4862-2080
E-mail: aceitunas@unete.com

In a neighborhood of jewels, this one is right up there near the top of the crown ...if you love black olives, it might be the front-and-center diamond.

Green olives are incredibly represented, as well ...big and meaty and briny, they'll make you think hard to remember the last time you ate an olive so good.

But the raison d'etre for the little corner joint that's been there since 1958 is the black olive.  Real black olives ...not the ones that are artificially turned black by gas.  You really can't have eastern Mediterranean cuisine without them.

And Almagro has the highest percentage of Jews of all Buenos Aires Barrios and they, with the help of the descendants of Argentina's big Syrian and Lebanese immigration, keep the demand high.  They are the stars of the show.

...unless it's the extra virgin olive oil!  It's the best in town and you can't beat the price.  They bring it in from Mendoza in bulk and sell it to you in liter or half-liter bottles.  Not too long ago, they used to let you bring-in your jug and they'd fill it for you from the barrel.  Sad to see that go.

They do a brisk trade in dried beans and fruits and lots of nuts ...best selection in town.  So if you are as crazy as I am for that stuff, you owe yourself a visit.

They also import oodles and gobs of middle-eastern yummies.  Too tired to make your own hummus, falafel, or babaganoush?  Just swing by and pick some up.

If you you happen to be there on a sunny afternoon, you can step across the street and reward yourself at one of city's truly notable café-bars, El Bandarín.

You'll be glad you did.

Baharat at Doña Clara

If you need spices in Buenos Aires, you're generally out of luck.  Chinatown is a great bet for hot pepper and some other stuff but barrio chino can pull up lame for most other things.

When My Missus and I need top-quality spices outside the realm of picante, we head to El Once.  Pigeonholed into a narrow store front on Av. Corrientes near Pueyrredón is Doña Clara.

Mainly an extraordinary supply-depot for bakers and cake decorators, Doña Clara has a nice selection of herbs and spices ...and the best thing is that they are amazingly fresh some of the best I´ve ever had.

Saturday, we decided to try a spice we´d never heard of: baharat.

In Arabic, the word simply means spices.  It´s a blend of paprika, cumin, black pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg.  The smell was intoxicating.  Our senses were reeling.  My Missus started floating around the ceiling jabbering about how she wanted the whole world to smell like this.

Apparently it's a staple in every kitchen in the Levant and Iraq ...and quite a few Turks and Iranians like it too.  We can thank the city's history of a big population of Syrians and Lebanese.

It´s fun to use too!  I was headed back home to cook-up a batch of shredded pork to slather on Tortillas Pancho Villa ...so I decided to try some baharat in that.  Wow.  Super killer yummy.  The flavors really pop with some salt and habanero pepper.

It's earthy and pungent and perfumy.  I´m going to try it in anything that I would normally add cumin.  Great spicy successes are a rare thing here ...Saturday was a red-letter day!

It's $10:08 in Argentina. Everybody's Waiting for Midnight.

We broke the psychological barrier today: Argentina's highest denominated note is now worth less than 10 dollars.  "What happens now?"  That was the question on everyone's mind this morning.

By afternoon, the government announced what would happen.

The national government announced the creation of a bill draft intended to establish a recovery plan for undeclared assets within the country and abroad in order to strengthen the level of foreign reserves of the Central Bank.

If that sounds to you suspiciously like money-laundering, you're in good company ...almost simultaneously, the national government announced:

The national government has decided to grant the authority of Secretary of State to the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the institution headed by José Sbatella in charge of investigating money-laundering manoeuvres and the financing of terrorism.

That announcement was not really for domestic consumption; Argentina has only recently been given a clean bill of health from western central bankers as being cured of her free-wheeling ways as regards the sanitary movement of currency.

The prediction business is a tough business ...especially when yer talkin' about the future.  However, yer humble blogger has never been afraid to stick his neck out ...so with everybody ringing my phone off the hook, you can have my 2¢ (about 20.2 centavos.)

#1. Without these announcements, the Argentine peso would be well on its way to 12 pesos to each dollar ...beyond that, who can say?  Once unthinkable, today's double-digit dollar changed brain chemistry all over the country.  People who have been waiting for "things to settle down," made plans to buy this morning ...pretty much without regard as to how much a dollar would cost them.  "Buy 'em at 10 before they go to 12," flashed across the synapses of every citizen of the world's most talented amateur economists.

#2. With these announcements, however, brainwaves have become scrambled at least momentarily.  The bill draft to establish a recovery of undeclared assets seems to be an amnesty of sorts.  It would allow folks to bring out their hard foreign currency from both mattresses here and off-shore accounts, and pay no penalties nor taxes.

#3. This lightening fast action on the part of the administration could actually keep the peso from going to 11 to the dollar before close of business Friday.

#4. The plan seems exceeding smooth: your hidden foreign currency (nobody hides pesos) comes out, gets declared, and you receive a bond of sorts that pays interest, is endorsable, and payable as soon as the current president leaves office.  You pay no penalty, interest, nor taxes on the amount.  Amnesty ends about 90 days from now.

#5. Life is beautiful and monetary stability is restored.

I have a few problems swallowing all of this not the least of which is how this comes hard on the heels of money-laundering accusations by operatives close and/or inside the administration regarding 500 euro notes.

The plan is too smooth, sunshiney, and easy.  Maybe a decade of living here has hardened me ...but nothing ever seems to turn-out quite like this.  When you figure that, in order to qualify for these lollipops and sunshine, one would have to bare one's most private of assets to the national government ...a sudden increase in everyone's confidence in national fiscal policy would be necessary to make it work. 

The payment date for the bond is scheduled to take place after the new administration is inaugurated.  Somehow, methinks this puts to bed any rumors or hopes that la presidenta will be back for another term.

Today's announced plan is too slick and too responsive.  It seems to have been waiting in a box marked, "do not open until $10.00."  It seems designed as a weapon of mass-distraction against the last hundred-dollar bill in Argentina being purchased before the end of the month.

Although I´ll be following the currency rates closely for a while, I´ll be especially interested in the international reaction as regards money-laundering.  This policy apparently would allow you to smuggle a large sum of money into the country, declare it at any local bank, and be forgiven of any taxes and penalties with no questions asked as to its provenance.  That´s not gonna sit well with US and European central bankers.

A final thought on hitting ten and this/these new announcements: this looks tremendously desperate.

A word of advice: hold on to your ass; this is some good acid.

Be Honest: Would you Buy Grass-fed Beef from this Man?

It was on, then it was off.  Then it was a long time comin', then it was off.

Then it looked hopeless ...now it's really on!

As of Saturday, Yer Faithful Blogger/Rancher will have his own abattoir (slaughterhouse for you less squeamish.)  I´ll be sharing it with a few other local ranchers ...but the main thang is that my cattle will only have to ride 25km/15.5 miles to meet their yummy nourishing fate instead of hundreds of kilometers of rough, traumatizing journey.  That short ride was an absolute requirement on my part ...we turned-down a lot of offers from slaughterhouses much farther away.

So ...would you actually buy grass-fed beef that came from the most humanely-raised, least-stressed, boutique-slaughtered bovines available?

I´m thinking that you would not.  Be honest.  Am I wrong?

My bidness-plan says that the price would not necessarily be higher than your local Buenos Aires Capital supermercado or carnecería ...but I have never been convinced that there is a local market for "The Beef that Made Argentina Famous."

My biggest worry is that Argentines don´t really care about grass-fed beef ...as long as it's cheap and plentiful, this once-great beef nation seems quite satisfied with "causchwitz" beef.

The expat market is not big enough to consider on most levels ...although, porteños do like to know what the foreigners are raving about.  "Caveman Diet" aficionados, however, have offered encouragement.

So ...help me out here.  Would you go out of your way to buy real, natural, grass-fed beef more than once?  Why would you?  Why wouldn't you?  How receptive would you be to hamburger and other non-steak cuts that require a bit of kitchen know-how to prepare?

Be brutal...

Kill a Bee, Make a Buck!

Isn´t this old news?  Nope.  You might remember the shocking news of massive sudden deaths of bee colonies back in 2006 ...but it is much worse now in 2013.

So what exactly is new about this?  The new thing is: the reason for the deaths has been discovered ...and it's money, big money, Big Ag Money.  Good luck, bees!  It was nice having youse guys around.

Wait a minute!  Won't we all die of starvation without bees?  Aren´t all foods pollinated by bees?

Nope.  Only about 1/3 of all food crops are pollinated by bees.

WTF?  What crops are not pollinated by bees?

Answer: most famously, corn and soybeans.

Where's the big, easy money for Big Ag Money?

Answer: most famously, corn and soybeans.

As I've said for a long time, "the day is going to come when the only thing for dinner will be a Cargill Soya Burger and a glass of Archer Daniel Midland Vodka ...when all I really want is a glass of malbec and a grass-fed steak."

Well, my friends, we appear to be much, much closer to that dinnertime than I ever imagined.  Strangely, relief from that monoculture meal headache could come from the same folks that gave you that headache: Bayer Crop Science.

Personally, like you, I never thought you could could make a buck in agriculture if you were in favor of killing bees.  Like you, I thought that bees pollinated everything.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my hundreds of deeelicious organically-grown hybrid tomatoes were probably NOT pollinated by bees!

Tomatoes, like corn and soy, are New World plants ...and bees are not native to the Americas.  Those plants pollinate themselves, usually with no more help than the breeze. Fans of berries, fruits, nuts, and melons will lose to Big Ag Money.

Big Ag Money will not care.
Big Ag Money will make even more money
once the bees are gone.

It's not just Big Ag Money.  It's a United States Department of Agriculture that has been bought and paid for ...and neutered like one of my calves.  At a recent USDA hearing on the effect on bees of insecticides used on GMO corn and soy, Monsanto and every Big Ag Money corporation was allowed to speak.  Only one beekeeper was granted the same privilege.

Regulating authorities in Europe might take a more strict stance ...but there is no guarantee.  Big Ag Money is big everywhere and it counts more than votes.

As you eat, US beekeepers are being crushed, non-GMO crops are being decimated, and democracy is being trumped by Big Ag Money.  If you can´t sleep well, at least eat well while you can.

Wow! Whadda Week ...making sense of the Argentine Peso

Economically speaking, it´s difficult to amaze anyone who lives in Buenos Aires.  However, as regards the Argentine Peso, this week has been quite a week.

Monday found every "old Argentina hand" impressed by the US dollar surging to more than eight pesos to one dollar ...something that most watchers didn´t expect until April. Bueno, que vas a hacer / Oh well, whaddaya gonna do.

Less than a week later, however, the unofficial "dollar blue" went to 8.75 to 1 dollar.  Now that will freak even the longest of long-timers here in the Paris of the Palmeras.  By this writing, the dollar has dropped back to less than 8.50 ...but that´s still worthy of wonderment given the accelerated and short time-frame.

What´s that mean to ordinary folks who live in the peso-denominated economy?  Answer: nothing terribly immediate ...but it won´t be very long until it does.

Allow yer humble cattle rancher Mike to let you in on a little ripple that is sure to reach Buenos Aires Capital's pond almost as quickly as this week's currency spike.

Before Monday, My Missus and I sent a big load of autumn calves into the system that supplies all the beef that people eat here in this beef-eating nation.  Although our animals brought the best prices at auction, those prices were a tad depressed.  We wrote it off to selling in the fall when everyone else was selling.  Nonetheless, we were reasonably pleased with the money.

This week, however, our cattle buying/selling sources informed us of many auctions in which there were no buyers and/or the sellers refused to sell at such low prices.

That, my friends, is unheard of ...at least in recent memory.

For a cattleman to pay the freight to take cattle to auction ...and then refuse the offer ...and then to pay the freight to take them back to his ranch ...where there is probably scant pasture to feed them is a BIG deal.

I can only attribute that to this week's weirdness regarding the exchange rate.

In the big city of Buenos Aires, even big fluctuations in the relative value of the peso vis-a-vis the dollar are taken in stride with little effect on day-to-day life.

This week was different.  I predict that the ripples of this week will reach ordinary people in the big city sooner rather than later.

The prediction business, on the other hand, is a very tricky business ...especially when you're talkin' bout the future!

Wild fluctuations in the dollar here can be attibuted to how small is the market for foreign currency.  The scary thing about this week is how the market seems to have gotten smaller.  There are now many more buyers of dollars chasing fewer sellers of dollars.

When I first visited Argentina in 2000, it was estimated that there were 1 Billion US dollars "in mattresses" here ...that's in addition to any US dollar denominated bank accounts that existed then.  Over more than a decade, those dollars have been depleted ...both in private and government holdings.

Now, the market for dollars has become so small that any demand for dollars has the power to swing the exchange rate wildly.

Like the exquisite antiques that used to regularly appear in the famous Sunday street market in San Telmo, US dollars have been fished-out of the local economy to a degree which no one could have reasonably predicted ...until this week.

Full disclosure: even though it has bitten me in the pocketbook, I have always supported the government's effort to restrict the export of food from Argentina simply because some other nations' currencies are stronger.  We have had that luxury because of the official and unofficial stores of hard currency. 

However, just like only 1 million US dollars suddenly invested in the Buenos Aires Stock Market is enough to make values swoon ...the amount of hard-currency wealth in this rich country and its capital appears to have been depleted to the point where almost any demand for dollars can make the exchange rate really swing.

It´s not just you who wants/needs dollars ...the national coffers are dwindling as well.

The nation will probably begin to encourage the export of what we do best: agricultural products.  Already, Argentina counts more and more on the export of heavily taxed GMO soy.  Although we are rich in energy and mining products, those will take time to ramp-up.  If basic foodstuffs are suddenly allowed again to be exported at lower restrictions, there will be hunger here ...and hunger here means hunger for much of the world until Argentine production catches-up with our export capabilities of a decade ago.

I don´t know how bumpy this ride is gonna be ...but I´m holding onto my seat.  Brace yourselves.

Let There Be Light, Mike

"City Life" and "Campo Life" have always been two prominent and, mostly, seperate features here at yer humble blog.  How could they not be?

With the Province of Buenos Aires being exactly the same size as France ...or Arizona, for that matter ...and the City of Buenos Aires being bigger than Chicago and about 300km/200mi from the ranch, I´ve always felt like I´ve had a foot in both of those two very different worlds.

"The best of both worlds," I´ve always said.  We live very much downtown while in the Capital ...and very much in the countryside while at the ranch.  There's never been anything sub-urban or ex-urban about our experience. 

Stark contrasts ..."night and day," you might say.

Over the past few years, though, the lines have begun to blur ...and some lines are getting very, very clear.

When we first got down to the ranch, there was no cellphone service, no electricity, no hot water, and no central heating except for the woodburning kitchen stove.  Now we have all of that... if you count a rather small gasoline-powered generator that we use for a couple of hours a day.

The lines that are no longer blurring, however, are making their way, pole-by-pole, to the home of The Happy Bottom Riding Club.  I can see them coming.  Clearer and clearer, every day.  Full, honest-to-God, 220v electric power is making its way to the ranch.

That's great, right?  Progress.  Modernity.  Rural electrification.  So why do I feel so bad about it?  Well, my 19th century is vanishing before my eyes ...and I´m gonna miss it.  I´ll probably be the only one who does.

Don´t get me wrong; I´m no Luddite.  I love gizmos in general and I´ll love the opportunity to use a few more power tools, more conveniently.  Being able to charge my cellphone whenever I want or need to will be super.  Being able to have a "real" freezer will be a wonderful thing.  I´ll be able to read even when the light fades.  You can hardly count all the benefits.

But it will be a rush!  A real rush.  A rush that grandparents, dead and gone, would be able to appreciate.  Zoom!  100 years will pass in the few minutes it will take to connect that last wire.

Forgive me, but I´m suspicious.  It's not clear to me that this is all going to be for the good.

Right now, when the sun comes up, the birds start squawking and you get out of bed.  That's especially important in the winter when the days are short.  In summer, it's important, too; the days might be longer then but midday is too hot to work ...so siesta is important.

What I love the best, though, is sundown.  When the sun goes down, you go to bed.  The only alternative is to wander around in the dark and bump into something or fall into a hole.

When I´m in the campo, I fall into a circadian rhythm that the big city can´t possibly deliver.  "Artificial" light, I´m afraid, could take that all away ...and take it quick!

The talk at the ranch is all about the practical applications of electricity ...all the above plus electric fences that no longer need to rely exclusively on car batteries charged from solar panels.  No one, however, has mentioned television or late-night blogging on the internet over the weak cellular connection ...soon to become stronger with an signal amplifier. 

Wow.  How many times have I chuckled at the Amish who deny themselves electric lights while running heaters and milking machines in their barns?  How inexplicable, right?  Sheesh, payback is a bitch, ain't it?

We have light now.  We are so far from the nearest town that, during a full moon, I can actually read a newspaper.  On a moonless night, I can see my shadow from starlight alone.

Maybe I got nuttin' to worry about ...but I wonder if I´ll still be able to see the "milkiness" of the Milky Way through the glow of inevitablility.

"Please?" US vs. Argentina

Got Language?  Sure, we do!  At least for us Yanqs, it might be easier to transition to an expat life in Argentina than anywhere else on earth (I´m deliberately ignoring the metric system and °F vs.°C) ...except for learning Rioplantense, of course.

Language was big in the news last week with this NYT article which started a chain reaction with their links to other sites that deal with differences within the English language.  While perusing those links, I discovered a discussion of the word "please" and how differently it is used outside the US.

I was amazed at how closely the US/UK differences parallel the US/Argentina ones!  Here's my favorite illustration of this:

A guy walks into a bar in Chicago.  The bartender greets him.  The guy says, "Gimme a beer."  The bartender brings him a beer.  The guy says, "Thanks."
That's polite in Chicago.
That's rude in Buenos Aires.

A guy walks into a bar in Buenos Aires.  The bartender greets him.  The guy says, "Gimme a beer, please."  The bartender brings him a beer.  The guy says either nothing at all ...or, "That was nice of you."
That's polite in Buenos Aires.
That's rude in Chicago.

The blog Separated by a Common Language does a great job of exploring the US non-usage of the word "please."

The blogger, Lynne Murphy, shows that we Yanqs believe that we use "please" as often as anyone ...and we're surprised to find that we don't.

It reminds me of a Canadian who transfered into my Chicago office and claimed that very few of her countrymen ever used the word "eh?" at the end of a sentence.  We tortured her by pointing out (usually in unison) everytime she said it.

Even after 9 years in Argentina, I still have to make a special effort to ensure that I say "por favor" with every request.  I still occasionally forget.

Any Argentine worth his máte could endlessly torture any one of us with the number of times we "forget" to use the magic word that our mothers all drilled into our heads throughout childhood.

Murphy describes, "when I first came to this country--and for a while after--I would hear British people claiming that Americans don't say please, and I would bristle. Of course we do! We are trained to add the magic word when we request things. We are nice people! I'm a nice person! And anyone who doesn't think so can have a sock in the eye.

But then I lived here a while and my family and friends started to come over and visit. They'd order food in restaurants and I'd hear how abrupt they sounded, leaving off the please. Then I noticed myself and my English friends at our weekly gossip pizza get-together. If I ordered first, then I'd notice that everyone else had said please and I hadn't."

It seems there's a reason we don´t use "please."  Unlike Argentines, Brits, Canadians, (and aparently Italians) ...we yanquis feel saying "please" is rude.

Go read her blog post, please. 

Are you a Superminnow?

(actual size)

Has it been awhile since you've dropped your Uncle Sugar a postcard from Buenos Aires?  Or were you under the impression that the IRS had simply dropped you from their mailing list out of disinterest?  Long time, no file?

Well, cheer-up expat tax slackers!  This month, the IRS has announced the details of a special program just for you ...but only if you are a superminnow.

Streamlined, that's what it is!  Specifically, it's the New Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for Non-Resident, Non-Filer U.S. Taxpayers.  To see if you qualify, you'll need to answer a questionaire all designed with you in mind.

In the main, the program is directed toward U.S.-type folks who have lived outside das homeland since at least 2008, have not filed a tax return during that time, and don´t owe more than $1500 dollars in tax for any of the tax years 2009 through 2012 ...superminnows rather than Big Fish.

Generally, if you can´t answer yes to all of the above, you ain´t bona fide and cain't be streamlined.  On the other hand, if that describes you to a T, you may yet acheive superminnow status.

The next section of the questionaire concerns itself (and you) with foreign bank accounts and retirement accounts and whether you knew that you had to report that stuff to the IRS.  Then it goes into questions about how fancy your tax advice has been lo these many years and if you have been reporting your income to your country of residence.  If it looks like you've been hiding cash from the taxman when you knew it was wrong, you can forget about becoming a superminnow.

If, however, you can swear that:

• none of the returns submitted through this program claim a refund;
• there is no material economic activity in the United States;
• you have declared all of his/her income in your country of residence;
• you are not under audit or investigation by the IRS;
• you have never gotten into FBAR trouble before ...not even a warning;
• you have no financial interest or authority over a financial account(s) outside Argentina;
• you have no financial interest in an entity or entities outside Argentina;
• you have no U.S. source income;
• or that you don´t use sophisticated tax planning or avoidance...

you might be able to get right with your Uncle, pay your back tax (if any), and avoid an audit and penalties.

Swim away, little fishy!  Swim away.

Baines Best Bacon, the Bacon of Baires

Vegans, vegetarians, and orthodox religious sects beware: the famed entry-level pigmeat is here.  Real yanqui-style bacon.  Fatty bacon.  Streaky bacon.  Cured pork belly.  Just like back in the old country.

It took me awhile to find the mysterious Mr. Baines, "the Brit with the bacon" ...but it was worth it.

Ordinarily, our British cousins taunt us when presented with our beloved crunchy strips of delight.  They´ll say, this is not "proper bacon" ...prefering bacon from the loin, what North Americans call "Canadian bacon."

Not Heath Baines.  He not only calls this bacon ...he calls it Best.  (Unconfirmed sources tell Yanqui Mike that Baines was spirited away from his uncle's deli in Thornton Heath, UK as a child during the Profumo Affair to live in an undisclosed location in or around Appalachia.)

These are the perfect machine slices that, in a short few minutes, become the greasy oblea of a million American Dreams.  These are the essential B in BLT, the soul mate to your fried eggs, the very soul of Hot Brown, the stuff that you can´t cook in a crowded kitchen because your pile will be pilfered to perdition.

The stuff without which your frying pan's too wide.

So where do you get it?  You don´t.

You get on the list for the next bacon run.  It comes discretly to your door as professionally packaged as Oscar Mayer ...by the pound.  Delivery frequency is about every 3 weeks and he doensn´t like to deliver only 1 lb. (you´re gonna need at least 2lbs., anyway.)  Fry some up in a good stout skillet for your Argentine friends and stand back!

I mostly just munched mine out of the skillet ...but after a couple of BLT's, some bacon & eggs ...and a few deliciously weird tacos made with Pancho Villa's incomparable corn tortillas (Man! Bacon, avocado, onion, lime juice, and hot peppa!)  My Missus was ecstatic.

I´m back on the list ahead of you ...so get in touch with him quick.

$55 ARS per pound (cheap), cash, small bills.
Email vingt-cinq-@hotmail.com and tell him how much you want.
He´ll contact you to say when it will be delivered.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vingt-Cinq-Baines-Best-Bacon/166492793374992

Café Exotico Guayatá at Full City Café

Things have definitely changed in Buenos Aires since I got off the boat.  Although transitioning from the US to Buenos Aires is one of the easiest segways in the world ...the lack of good ground coffee to make at home has always been a challenge.

That´s why I´m fired-up for the roast at Full City Café.  Not only do they roast it on the premises, the joint is in Chacarita below Buena Onda Yoga's location there.  (Someone needs to write about how the expat community here is finally expanding outside the traditional ghetto.)

After a couple cafes doble, I came away with a ¼ kilo of a surprising Columbian varietal called Café Exotico Guayatá that Full City's Alan has been just started importing.  The stuff is great; it's full, slightly fruity with a citricky acidity.  With a splash of milk or cream, it's a rich smooth deelight.

They even ground it especially for my Aeropress!

Alan tells me the coffee has a story, as well.  Guayatá is named after a particular town in Columbia where it is produced by a rural women's association.  The local women support directly or indirectly almost 900 families there.

I haven´t eaten there yet but the reviews have all been raves and the pictures look great.  I think there´s a burger in my future.

Drinking Liberally Tomorrow!

Check it out!

Every Monday, same time, same place.  7:30pm at Bar Cilantro, Anchorena 1122, in Barrio Norte.

The Southernmost Outpost in the Américas of that International Drinking Society: http://www.DrinkingLiberally.org/!

Follow us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/dlbuenosaires

on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DLBuenosAires

and at www.drinkingliberally.com.ar

See you there!

La Barata del Central

My Missus came home with a box of this today!  She was tipped-off by our dear friend Marta Motta and happened to catch a short interview with the founders on television.

La Barata del Central is a fascinating concept: the place looks like a farmers' market but you can´t just roll-up and buy some.  You need to go on-line and reserve a box ...or have it delivered at no extra charge.

The idea is based on all the publicity surrounding Buenos Aires' huge Mercado Central and how much cheaper everything is there.  Of course, if you´ve ever tried to take advantage the big mercado, you know how difficult and expensive a trip there can be.  It´s just outside the city limits, public transport is limited and there are several tolls for those who drive.

The idea is similar to some produce subscription services I´ve seen back in the old country in which, for an annual fee, you receive a basket of select seasonal fruits and veggies every month or so.  My Missus reminds me that it also reminds her of the kind of informal groups of friends that used to make trips to Mercado Central during hyperinflation days.

La Barata is different.  You don´t have to subscribe or join a group!  You just go on-line and tell them you would like either a large basket or a small one.  If you are fortunate to live within their delivery area, they´ll schlep it to your door ...otherwise, you can go pick it up at their galpon in Palermo Hollywood.

The produce is definitely seeelect!  The folks at La Barata del Central must be getting to the market awfully early because everything in the box was fresh, tender, and jewel-like.  On their website, they make a big deal of how much cheaper they are ...but they compare themselves to a "corner chino where one potato costs 2 pesos."  There are, certainly, places like that.  However, I´m not sure that they are much cheaper than my wonderful corner greengrocer ...but the wealthiest parts of town (virtually all of them contained in the delivery area) may have priced-out many of their little verdulerías.  I think the "marketing of their marketing" is on a great footing.

And La Barata delivers!  Their delivery area is really big and includes parts of Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortuzar, Villa Crespo, Almagro, and all of Chacarita in addition to the usually well-served areas.

If my big box is any indication, you won´t be disappointed!  Check 'em out here.

Free Eats at Expat Eats

Big giveaway over at Expat Eats!  Click and win a free dinner for one at Jueves a la Mesa this Thursday, August 16th at 8:30.

Jueves a la Mesa is great vegetarian food in the heart of San Telmo ...and great vegetarian food is something that is still hard to get in Buenos Aires.

Check out Jueves' spicey African inspired menu for this Thursday:

Millet Cornbread with Lentil Pate and Carmelized Onions; Sweet Potato and Peanut Curry with Yamani Rice; Beet, Carrot, and Banana Salad with Homemade Yogurt; Homemade Chocolate; Fresh Fruit; Rose Scented Almonds; and Ginger tea.  A menu known for its pleasing spiciness!

Yummy, spicey, veggie dishes at Jueves a la Mesa every Thursday at 8:30.  Thursday is "Jueves" in Buenos Aires!

Thursday is "Jueves" in Buenos Aires

Attention: Fans of Vegetarian Food throughout this great meat-eating nation ...and all you meat-eaters, too! 

In these dark days of feedlot Argentine beef, it´s treemendous to know where you can get great and imaginatively prepared plants.  If you don´t already know about Jueves a la Mesa ...you will.

You know why?  Because It´s Good to Eat Plants and they're good to eat to eat at Jueves a la Mesa.

The San Telmo puertas cerradas has been been keeping their kitchen warm through the efforts of Meghan Elizabeth Lewis and her cooking partner, Sofia Madriz for almost two years

...and THIS Thursday the 16th, they will be newly ensconced in their brand-new digs just a few blocks from the original location.  The new joint on the ground-floor of a beautifully gut-rehabbed old San Telmo petit hotel will feature a full bar of your favorite quaffs and fresh juices.

The menu changes every Thursday and this Thursday, the 16th, will feature a hit that "Jueves" fans request again and again:

Millet Cornbread with Lentil Pate and Carmelized Onions; Sweet Potato and Peanut Curry with Yamani Rice; Beet, Carrot, and Banana Salad with Homemade Yogurt; Homemade Chocolate; Fresh Fruit; Rose Scented Almonds; and Ginger tea.  A menu known for its pleasing spiciness!

A glass of wine is included in the $120 peso price ...and other drinks and juices are available at the bar.  (Folks, that's down-right underpriced in Buenos Aires.)

 Get your reservations here.  Hey!  Do 'em a favor ...don´t ask them, "can I make reservations for Wednesday night?"  Jueves is only open on ...wait for it ...Jueves (Thursday)! 

I´ve known Meghan for over a year and she´s one of those industrious expats that I love to love!  She came to cooking vegetarian food in Buenos Aires back in November of  2010 through her involvement with yoga:

I started cooking for large groups a few years ago for MoonLight Yoga, an event hosted by BuenaOnda YOGA (my other business). The diners were always so happy with the meals and I realized that I could do something about the lack of spicy vegetarian food in Buenos Aires. The menus are planned to avoid white flour and refined sugars, and turn plants into tempting, hearty meals. Carnivores and omnivores leave as satisfied as their vegetarian table-mates!

See you there this Thursday at the inauguration of what possibly is the best vegetarian dining room in Buenos Aires Argentina ...this Thursday at 8:30!

...when you come back for more, don´t be surprised to see me and My Missus* chowing-down on all the lovely plant goodness.

(*I could tell you about how little meat my cattle ranchin' wife and I eat ...but you wouldn´t believe it.)

Review of last night´s feast: here

More Expat Eats!

Thanks for all the great response and likes and words of encouragement for yesterday's launch of www.expateats.blogspot.com.ar

We´ve already got a few new listings (Quiero Bagel and Buena Birra Social Club) and some great updates from the artisans themselves (Buenos Aires Bread Co., Jueves a la Mesa, and Colectivo Felix)

...and we are already experiencing problems with the free Blogger platform and my renegade template!

Here´s some news!  Anytime an artisan updates their info, graphics, etc. ...or a fan submits a review ...the thumbnail for that artisan moves up to the "poll position."  That solves a lot of problems for me as to deciding who gets that prime real estate in the upper left-hand corner.

Keep it coming!  We all love updated info and your personal experiences with these hard-working folks trying to bring you tastes from here and around the world.

Help!  We still can't find any contact info on El Sibarita and Los Polenteños ...if we don´t get any contact info, we´ll have to eventually drop them from the directory.  Waaah!  We don't wanna drop anybody.

Expat Eats!

Here's something new ...a one-stop directory of all incredibly delicious foods cooked-up by folks with just as much longing for the unavailable as you ...except they have stuck their necks out and have started producing it for everybody.

http://www.expateats.blogspot.com.ar has only one purpose: to make it easier for anyone in Buenos Aires to find the hard working people who are trying to enrich our foodie experience here.

The Expat Eats directory was inspired by the now-legendary BA Underground Market sponsored by the Argentina Independent and held at IMPA La Fábrica, Querandíes 4290 in Almagro.  That event was truly extraordinary in many, many different ways ...not least of all for the incredible foods that were lovingly and bravely prepared for sale to the public by culinary artisans that miss their favorite specialty foods and figure that you probably do too!

The directory is by no means complete ...and is built on a rather shaky template that could explode at any minute!  (hit F5 or Refresh if you have any problems)

If you are an artisan and would like to be listed ...tell me more!

If you are already listed and would like to describe your products in your own words ...please do!

If you would like to suggest someone who is laboring away in undeserved obscurity, that would be great!

As I expect (and dearly hope!) that this directory will expand, I´d love to hear from any of you webmasters out there who could bring their expertise to bear toward keeping the directory stable and solid.

Buen Provecho,
Mike

Sunday is Brisket Day in Baires!

D'ya ever feel like some Texas BBQ Brisket ...without the 12 hours and $1200 airfare?

Well you´re in luck! Sunday at The Office Bar & Grill, Arévalo 3031, at 5pm to ...whenevah, that Master Meat Man, El Tejano hisself will be putting his Brazos to the Brasas to bring you brisket!

Sauce included ...of course. Details on FB. See ya there.

60% Less Traffic Downtown!

Clarin.com is reporting that there are less than half the usual amount of vehicles on the streets of microcentro since the new daytime restrictions went into effect.

Heads up, for you expat drivers! The rest of you, enjoy the lack of congestion.

http://movil.clarin.com/ciudades/vehiculos-Microcentro_0_659934100.html