The Women and Food in Buenos Aires

I have been in awe at the women here in BsAs. They are so thin and toned. Not only are they thin, but they´re generally very petite. After seeing what they eat I´m not surprised. Steak and salad. So without knowing it they´re all on Atkins! Even with this slim build, they´re looking after themselves as well. There are lots of toned women of all ages around - it´s such a contrast to the ever increasing waistline of Britain.

The women in the milongas are especially thin, mainly because they dance tango all night and don´t drink alcohol. The simple reason is that it´s almost impossible to dance after couple of drinks, so if you want to dance, you avoid the drinks and sip soft drinks or coffee.

The Argentines don´t just eat steak and salad. There´s lots of lovely pasta from the Italian heritage and they also do fabulous pastries and biscuits. The panaderies (bread shops) stock hundreds of different kinds of petit fours, tarts and cakes and they really are fabulous. But because they´re all so small, you can easily taste just one, without having to buy a dozen and then eat them all in one go! Alternatively, you can go for a coffee where they will provide a small glass of water and a couple of the petit fours as an accompaniment.

A couple of things they don´t do very well is fish and cheese. Firstly, fish. Because meat is such high quality and so cheap, fish doesn´t really get in a look in. And if you find fish on the menu, the restaurant often won´t have it in. If they do, then they don´t cook it very well or the quality isn´t great. This is true even on the coast. In Argentina meat rules. Secondly, cheese. They´ve got all these cows and then the European influence from Spain, Germany and Italy, but still the cheese isn´t that great. Their cheese shops double as delicatessens and these are often overrun with hundreds of varieties of sausages. Damn! Not that great for a fish eating vegetarian.