Fun at the Feria

Saturday is a day of ferias in Buenos Aires. Ferias are lovely open-air markets where hundreds of local artists sell all kinds of beautiful arts and crafts. Our favorite is the Feria Artesanal in Plaza Francia right outside the Recoleta Cemetary. At this feria, in addition to the crafts stands there are also rolling carts of empanadas, living statues, singers and parillas. The scents of barbeque, carmelized nuts, homemade incense, cigar smoke and leather compete for attention. A living statue dressed as a robot plays loud techno music and dances for a few pesos, while just across a small garden and older gentleman in a well-worn suit plays guitar and sings tango music while smoking a huge Cuban cigar.

The ferias are one of my favorite places to shop in the world. Not only can you get amazing and unique stuff here, but it is a very laid back shopping experience. All the artists patiently wait in their stands, perhaps working on a project to sell later, listening to music or even playing guitar. Not one of them harasses you to come look at their goods, they wait for you to come look and then offer helpful and no-pressure background on their art. There is also no haggling, which I also appreciate. This trip we ended up with a watercolor painting of Caminito, a hand knit sweater, a handmade pea coat for me, some hand made stampted leather clogs and a stamped leather purse.

We decided to have "street food" for lunch. I was craving empanadas, and Gavin was tantilized by the smell of chorizo on a little parilla. We decided to get three empanadas and a chorizo sandwich, but after I ordered the empanadas I discovered they were "not" exactly empanadas; they were huge! The size of hoagie buns! We sat on a park bench listening to the competing sounds of the techno dancing robot and the tango music singer, while trying to work our way around what we had intednded as a "light" lunch. Gavin couldn't finish his empanada/hoagie, and right about that moment a beggar wandered up to us. Gavin gave her the other half of his empanada and the rest of his Fanta.

Gavin enjoys his chorizo sandwich at the Feria Artesanal.

After a bit more wandering around the feria, we headed back to the house to prepare for dinner. We had decided to hire a chef recommended by the house caretaker to cook us a traditional Argentine meal on the outdoor parilla at the house. Gavin invited people he knew from the conference, and it ended up being a big party. Augustina, the chef, arrived at 6pm with two other cohorts to prepare our meal, and for the next couple hours the house was flooded with parilla smoke and the smells of delicious meat cooking over the coals of wood... They tided us over with a deli meat tray, delicious bread and cheese, and eventually little bites of freshly grilled chorizo. When the main meal finally ame out, it easily rivaled any restaurant we had eaten in Buenos Aires. It was a huge spread of two different kinds of steak, grilled chicken, plus something similar to scalloped potates but much tastier!

The parilla at our house, all fired up!

Our chefs prepare our deicious meal.

MEEAAAT! People couldn't keep their forks out of it long enough to let me take a picture. :)

Just when we thought it couldn't get better, dessert was served. I had chosed the dessert from a list provided by the chef; I ordered a traditional Argentine chocolate dessert. IT WAS SO YUMMY! The bottom layer was flourless chocolate cake, followed by a layer of dulce de leche and topped with homemade silky-soft merengue. Drizzles of intense citrus decorated the plate and were perfect for dipping.

It suddenly struck me that I write quite a lot about food. :)

After dinner, Gavin and I and a few others finished off the last of the eleven bottles of wine that we had bought for the party, then crashed into bed.

Gavin and Adam finish off the last of the wine.