Why am I writing about the pizza culture? Firstly,
because I love Italian cuisine and I have tried out almost all the significant Italian
restaurants in Budapest. At the same time us, Europeans have a different view on
the pizza culture than what Argentinian think about it. The best is that the
Argentinians confidently state that their pizza is even better than the Italian
one. So what do Italians say about it? Who is right?
The dominance of the Italian kitchen in Buenos Aires
is due to the high number of Italian emigrants from the beginning of the last
century. During the past 120 years, however, a new Argentine pizza culture
developed, which is worth a post.
First of all, as mentioned in my post about 7 food to try in Argentina, a
pizzeria and an Italian restaurant are two different things, and it should not
be confused. While in an Italian restaurant you only get pasta
with the variation of thousands of sauces; in a pizzeria you have the same variety
of pizzas. But the two meals are well separated in different places. So when entering a pizzeria in
Buenos Aires and grabbing the menu, I was a bit confused, because I found all
kinds of pizzas from tomato and creamy bases through the different toppings,
till the great variety of shapes.
It is good to know that the outlook of an Argentine pizza
is a little different from its Italian friends. While Italians swear on the
combination of ’thin dough – thick topping’, their Argentine descendants complemented
it, and here you can expect a portion of a ’thick dough with an even thicker
topping’ on it. Do not be surprised if you ridicule a small-looking pizza, but
after a few minutes you start begging to your neighbor to help you out with
eating up the rest.
First I was also offended when we ordered a pizza to
share it. But the custom here is that people order one pizza to share and if
there is still space for another one, then the next can be ordered. No question
that these pizzas are quite stodgy, but they are just perfect if you drop in from the
street to grab something fast and delicious.
What can you choose from?
There is the classic pizza with tomato base and various
toppings. We all know these ones. But then there is the „fugazetta”, which is
made of a dough base and on top there is onion and cheese hills melt
together. The first fugazetta was made by a Genovian emigrant in the beginning
of the last century and is still very popular. For meat-lovers here is the „milanesa”,
- which is not really a pizza, but can be found in all pizzerias. It has a wiener schnitzel base which gets the topping. Not recommended for
those on diet :)
In a pizzeria you can sit, stand or take away the
food. So far I had no courage to stand in the crowd of pizza eaters on the ground
floor, this is my next mission. Until then I stay at the little tables
observing the pizzerias of Buenos Aires, sending over my observations.
THE pizza |
Milanesa. Eaten with no side dish. |
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Better than the Trattoria's ones? :-P seb
ReplyDeleteNothing can be better than the Trattoria ones ;)
DeleteHmmm, not too sure about those Argentinian pizzas - though we'll give anything a try. We were in Italy over spring and we just fell in love with the pizza there - mainly because the bases were so thin and crispy. Not a big fan of a thick base / deep pan. :)
ReplyDeleteI also prefer the thin base. That's for sure that you have to be very hungry to eat an entire Argentine pizza. Go for the portion (one slice), it takes up to 3 Italian slices! And never-ever mention in front of an Argentine that you prefer Italian ;)
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