[Tango-L] Chris Everett on Steak, and La Viruta.

[Christopher L. Everett]

Martin,

I spent 2 months this summer in Palermo.  I went to La Viruta lots. 
Usually the only thing happening on Sunday nights.  But usually,
going to an afternoon milonga, taking a private lesson and then 4
more hours dancing with friends at the Ideal (often with good
live music) would end with an exhausted ride home at 2:30 or
3:00 am.

Nussbaum, Martin wrote:
> Beg to differ with Christopher Everett's opinions on steak, and La
> Viruta. You do not have to be flush with cash to enjoy ojo de bife, or
> medallon de lomo. To avoid the overcooking problem, which is the way
> they assume all tourists want it, You just have to know the word
> "jugoso" which means rare, but more literally "juicy".  Look the waiter
> in the eye and repeat, as necessary, that word, until he nods in
> agreement.   Refuse his offer of "punto-jugoso", which is more medium
> than rare.  It helps if your salivation is evident as you utter the word
> jugoso.   Most good local parillas do an estimable job for about 14
> pesos, but for an outstanding experience, try this at the excellent La
> Cabrera, in Palermo, walking distance to Canning and Viruta.   Not only
> will you get the juiciest, most succulent cuts of sirloin or tenderloin
> you ever tasted in you life, with the interior buttery soft like sashimi
> that melts in your mouth, but you will get many tasty side tapas and
> pates included, all for about 30 pesos ($10-12 USD).  The most expensive
> steakhouse in BA, Cabana Los Lilas in Puerto Madeira, is twice the
> price, 55-60 pesos,  for meat that is marginally better, maybe 5 or 10%
> better.   
Maybe you can burn 100 dollar bills to light your cigars, guy,
but people saving their money for important things like
private lessons, shoes and CDs would be ill advised to
listen to you.

I spent 60 pesos in Don Julio's this Summer for bife de lomo,
pappas fritas and ensalada completo and a glass of wine.

Compare this to vacio, fritas and ensalata completo with a
bottle of Coke light available at La Rosalia on Scalabrini
Ortiz for about 18 pesos.   And if the place is a hole in the
wall with a leaky roof and plastic sheeting in the window
to cut down the wintertime draft, the service was excellent
and the waitress adorable.

An even better deal was the take out place down the street
from where I was staying.   For 7 pesos, I got a breaded
tenderloin sandwich with slices of ham, cheese, hardboiled
egg and lettuce/onion/tomato.

For about 8 pesos, I could get 2 kilos of bananas and
2 kilos of mandarins at the fruiteria.
> Cabrera's sweetbreads (corrazon?) 
Corazon means "heart" in Spanish.  You might be
thinking "Chorizo".

Sweetbreads are the pancreas.  They also serve tripe,
small intestine, lungs, heart, thyroid gland and other
choice bits.  Real nose to tail eating, in other words.
> and morcillas are also the best.
Morcillas, otherwise known a "black pudding" are OK.  Most
people will like "Chorizo" and "Chinchulines" a lot more.
>    Jake, "good quality" is an understatement.  I was  pesco-vegan
> before my trip to BA, and I am one after, but once there,  I sinned
> mightily, and daily.  Those cows spend all day munching on tall pampas
> grasses, and I dont  think the rancheros can afford pesticides,
> antibiotics, or growth hormones to give their cows. They also do not age
> beef, like here in the US.   Maybe the closest you could come to this
> quality in DC is Kobe beef. 
>   
The entire agricultural system in Argentina is (thankfully)
50 years behind that in the US.   I would have guessed a
pesco vegetarian like you appreciated the quality of fruits
and veggies that you can get in BA.  It's not like in the states
where the ability to ship a tomato 2000 miles is more
important than how juicy and tasty it is.  A tomato in
BA has to be eaten in 3 days or less before it starts
rotting.

Regarding Kobe beef, those animals are fed *large*
quantities of beer mash and sake.  IOW grain fed,
and qualitatively different than grass fed.
> Now, it is important to walk/dance  off such a repast,  so walk  to
> Canning, especially  if  parakultural night, then  at 3 or 4 am  walk
> to la viruta. 
I was at Canning on Parakultural night, more than once.  Let's
just say that navigation was terrible, and I liked Wednesday
afternoons at Canning a lot more. 
>  It aint just "young people", as if there was something
> wrong with that.  You will see fine dancers of all ages, a wonderful
> chacarera break around 4:30,  terrific fresh rolls, pastries  juice,
> coffee at  around 5am.  And, as the lights turn blue and low for that
> last tanda around 6, and the music intensifies and merges into a very
> rhythmic cumparsita, choose you partner very carefully... .    Anyone
> who says to avoid this experience has no detectable pulse. 
The under 25 crowd dominates there, no two ways about it.  Worse, 
most have learned their tango at the free classes there.  Let's
say the instructional quality isn't the best, while acknowledging
that free is the only price that many Argentines can afford for 
tango anything.

The downsides of the La Viruta experience include barely enough
light to navigate (let alone use the cabeceo), hour long sets 
of disco music with the loudest sound sytem in BA cranked all 
the way up, not nearly enough seating, your typical meat market
in full operation, and so on.  I didn't spend 1700 bucks on 
airfare and a place to stay for an experience I can duplicate 
any night of the week in the US.

Christopher