Pizza-culture in Argentina

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.





Subscribe to tiny girl with big bag by Email
 Subscribe in a reader

Best Blogger Tips

About Tiny Girl With Big Bag

Hobby writer and autodidact photographer whose passion is to travel and get to know new people and cultures. She has been on 4 continents and 30 countries, and the outcome is this travel blog where she shares travel stories, thoughts, tips and photography always through a subjective eye.

Follow her @ Twitter | Facebook | Google+

5 comments:

  1. Better than the Trattoria's ones? :-P seb

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm, 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. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I 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 ;)

      Delete
  3. Argentina famous for tourism in Asia. Each year thousand of tourists visit Argentina for tourism. Argentina famous for its beaches, landscapes and greenery. If you are making plans to visit Argentina then you must visit these places iguazu falls, perito moreno glacier, buenos aires zoo argentina, buenos aires mundo marino...

    ReplyDelete