BBQ Wild Boar Ribs (Ribs de Jabali)

I love wild boar. I love BBQ ribs. So let's have them both.

Rather than having to hunt down Jabali meat, luckily BBQ Wild Boar Ribs are an option at Oro & Cándido  in Palermo. In general with boar, the quality all depends on where it comes from. Feral Swine can be very good when hunted naturally and can be equal when farm raised. And of course, there is poorer quality when the jabali feeds on less natural foods in human population rich places.

With the Ribs de Jabali option at Oro & Cándido, you do run into a familiar problem with the menus in Buenos Aires. The actual menu listing is "ribs de jabali". But the use of the English word "ribs" can at times be a problem. "Ribs" on any English menu in North America would likely mean exactly what you are used to: either standard, long ribs or baby back ribs. But at times in Buenos Aires, you'll see the word "rib" used, but the cut is actually not what you'd expect. At Oro & Cándido, the "Ribs de Jabali" aren't a rack of ribs. They are instead costillas de jabali, more like a rack of lamb in the cut of meat.

So the primary letdown is that when ordering "Ribs de Jabali", you aren't actually getting ribs that you're expect.

Once you get past that, you can try to appreciate it. The meat however, is less than great. In smothering with BBQ sauce, you can dress up this pig a bit.

I've had better jabali at a number of places. Not great, not bad at Oro & Cándido. But I'm not sure I would recommend at this particular restaurant.  

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Empanadas de Yacaré, Ñandú y Jabali (Caimen Crocodile, Ostrich, Wild Boar)

Here's a dish for a partially-ambitious carnivore. It's an empanada sampler from Oro & Cándido  in Palermo with (3) empanadas: Crocodile, Ostrich and Wild Boar. So you get to sample some game meats, while enjoying a more familiar style.

All three are similar in preperation: the meat is ground for all three, with some onion and seasoning, and made into an empanada, each with a unique casing.

The Jabali is a more tender white meat, full of juices in the blue corn casing. The flavor is good and it went well with a small side of BBQ sauce I had requested.

As someone that has eaten ample Ostrich in his lifetime, I'm used to the distinct taste of the meat. But they do a good job with the flavor and it tastes similar to a traditional carne empanada.

The Yacaré Crocodile is in the darker whole wheat casing. It's actually the first time I've eaten Yacaré and it did taste quite different that all the alligator I've eaten while living in the United States. I has not a fan as I found the flavor to be similar to what a person smells like after 3 days at Cochella.

But if you're in BA and looking to try something different, give it a whirl. It's only $21AR and is an appetizer, so even if it doesn't satisfy your palate, you'll always have the entrée to follow.

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BBQ Baby Back Ribs from Kansas

There aren't too many options for fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs in Buenos Aires. For all the great meat dishes in the country, so much of the meat options require strict grilling. The idea of slow smoking meat for 6 hours seems alien to many chefs, almost sacreligious. 

I can't count the number of times I sought out places for BBQ ribs (pechito de cerdo) and even found locations that announce them as "BBQ". But most of the time, they aren't. 

Take La Carranzita in Palermo for example. They just take a rack of ribs, throw them on the grill, and put some kind of sauce on them. You can imagine how tough they area: chewy in the middle, burnt on the outside, and just too much work to even get any meat of of them. Even worse is when these same restaurants refuse to use a real barbacoa sauce and instead tries to make their own. And that's what they do at La Carranzita...they  seem to just take a bottle of ketchup, add some sugar and call is "BBQ sauce". 

Luckily, when a rib lover need a BBQ fix and doesn't want to put in an entire day to smoke them, there is Kansas in Palermo. 

I figured it was finally time to take some photogs of their ribs.

The ribs they offer are only baby back, which to me are like the Southwest Airlines of BBQ ribs. But they fall off the bone and don't taste like they've been pre-boiled to be tender. They have a nice smoky flavor and the sauce is excellent as well. Sides are french fries and coleslaw, but I swapped them out for candied batatas and grilled zucchini. 

Overall, they probably aren't much better than baby back ribs you'd get at an American Chili's. But for BA, it's the best of the best. 

The menu has a ton of other great options and specials. When I went this past Sunday, they had grilled swordfish on the menu...and that's a fish I rarely find here. 

They also have a killer dessert menu. Below you'll find their New York style cheesecake, in a frutilla sauce and topped with white chocolate shavings. Good stuff. 

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Pizza at Siamo nel Forno

Siamo nel Forno

Costa Rica 5886, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires

Always earns it's rep as best pizza in the city.

The best of the best. Siamo nel Forno is considered by many to be the best pizza in Buenos Aires, and I concur. The crust is cripsy on the outside, chewy in the middle. The cheese selected is real mozzarella, and not the lower quality cheese you get used to finding on pizza in BA. If you order a pizza margherita (see image), you'll get just a light amount of quality tomatoe, muzzarella y albahaca.

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Pizza in Buenos Aires...with Pepperoni

Photo by Dan Perlman

Buenos Aires seems to have pizzerias on every other street corner. Any traveler or new resident from North America or Europe would be happy to see that, something many wouldn't expect in a South American city. But when you finally get around to eating pizza in Buenos Aires, you realize it is completely different from what you are used to.

In fact, there are many who claim it's the worst pizza in the world. I for one wouldn't go that far, since the average pizza I've had in Buenos Aires has been on par with pizza I've had in much of Europe and the United States in the states not on the east and west coasts, or major cities like Chicago. 

Pizza in Buenos Aires is seldom a thin crust by world standards and very far from "New York thin crust" standards.The mozzarella cheese used is often a softer type with a different flavor than people are used to (finding good cheese is an issue many expats in BA are quick to bring up...despite all the damn cows). The pizza crust is pretty thick, while remaining reasonable light and fluffy. Think of BA pizza as being more like a 3cm bread with sauce and cheese. 

The pizza culture is also a bit different than many are used to. You'll find virtually every pizzeria has a menu of different types of pizzas they serve. Not listed on these menus are toppings. So the Buenos Aires pizza culture does not include much self-experimentation. In many other countries, someone might have a special concoction of toppings they prefer that they order on a pizza. In Buenos Aires, it's more of just trying different options on a menu. And for the bold, it's asking for something customized with specific toppings, even when the menu doesn't encourage it.

So on my quest for the best pizza in Buenos Aires, I've tried a number of different places. Perhaps it's because it's what I'm used to, but the pizzerias that serve the closest to "New York style" pizza are the ones I prefer. 

I've only tried about 20 different pizzerias in Buenos Aires, but I already have a top few:

Siamo nel Forno
Costa Rica 5886, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires

The best of the best. Siamo nel Forno is considered by many to be the best pizza in Buenos Aires, and I concur. The crust is cripsy on the outside, chewy in the middle. The cheese selected is real mozzarella, and not the lower quality cheese you get used to finding on pizza in BA. If you order a pizza margherita (see image), you'll get just a light amount of quality tomatoe, muzzarella y albahaca.

Pizzeria Morris

Costa Rica 5799, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires

Morris has all the same options as every other Buenos Aires pizzeria. But what they do with the crust is what sets them apart as my favorite Buenos Aires pizzeria thus far. Just looking at this iphone photo, anyone used to pizza in Buenos Aires will see the crust is different than most pizzerias. It's crisp on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle. The sauce was also quite different, as it was a simple tomato sauce one would be used to from a traditional New York pizzeria. The photo to the left is just a simple Muzzarella pizza (salsa tomate y muzzarella) with the standard topping of whole green olives. If you're in Palermo, it's worth trying.

Punto Pizza

Paraguay 3779, Palermo, Buenos Aires

When ordering pizza in the United States, I was never a huge fan of pepperoni. I always liked it on pizza, but just rarely ordered it. But since pepperoni is a non-existent food item in Argentina, I was intrigued when I heard there was a pizzeria that served it.

Upon reading a blog, I learned about Punto Pizza, a local chain with 4 Buenos Aires locations. I admit, I cared less about the pizza and more about the fact that pepperoni as a topping was available. 

And it was well worth the trip. They only offer delivery and pickup. Since I'm without a phone in BA, that left only the option to walk over there.

The pizza itself was fairly average by worlds standards, but very enjoyable. I ordered a small pepperoni pan pizza (they offer both pan and thin crust). The crust itself, even for a pan pizza, was very light and fluffy. So it was a very light meal despite the cheese and pepperoni.  In reality, this pizza was pretty close in flavor to what it resembles: a Pizza Hut pan pizza. It was nothing special by international standards, but pretty good for BA standards. But hey, they have pepperoni pizza.

Piola
Libertad 1078, Recoleta, Buenos Aires

I don't have any photos, but Piola is worth trying as it's thin crust, compared to the traditional Buenos Aires thick crust I mentioned above. Their pizza isn't going to win any awards, but it's a good balance of the traditional BA pizza taste, with some of the benefits expats will enjoy.

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Fabada Asturiana

A stew of beans, chorizo, morcilla, pork belly and potatos.
From El Preferido de Palermo in Palermo Soho, a restaurant specializing in dishes from the Asturias region of Spain.

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Matambrito de Cerdo al Verdeo

Grilled pork flank, cut and served in a brown gravy with cooked green onion and papas espanol. One of the daily specials at El Trapiche in Palermo Hollywood.

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Ojo de Bife - Matarife

There's a need every so often to mix things up when going to a parrilla. So rather than ordering Meat A and Side dish B, I'll try one of the entrees on the menu.

Below is something you'll see on many parrilla menus in BA. It's ojo de bife which is a rib eye steak. It's topped with a BA favorite, roasted red pepper, along with caramelized onions. Wrapped around the entire side is a thin layer of panceta. The side is Patagonian papas, although these ones are much larger then I've had with this same dish at other parrillas.

Photo quality sucks but the food was perfect...

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Pastrami in Buenos Aires

Not what I'm used to in the US, but pretty good.

Pastrami on dark rye (toasted)
topped with caramelized onions with paprika

Sides:
2 types of kinishes: potato and onion w/potato.

I bought this all  from Ciervo de Oro in Villa Crespo in Buenos Aires. A large Jewish population in the neighborhood, so an ideal location to find quality deli.

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Milanesa de Pollo Napolitana

This will likely be the first of many posts about milanesa.

Milanesa is essentially a chicken-friend steak you'd find in the Southern United States. Insome places, you can get the Milanesa style for chicken and some fish.

Here's a quick shot of one I had recently from El Club de Milanesa in Palermo.

It's a pounded flat piece of chicken, lightly breaded and fried. It's then topped with a razor thin piece of smoked ham, topped with a tomato sauce and then melted mozzarella. So it's basically a pizza with meat instead of dough. I'll take it over a US style "chicken parm" any day.

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Buenos Aires Food and Restaurant Reviews & Photos

Here are just some of the food and restaurant reviews from Buenos Aires...

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