Three things I didn’t expect about living in South America
Culture Thursday, March 25th, 2010
ANDREW FORD/THE ARBITER - Mendoza is the capital city of the Mendoza Province in Argentina. The city's population is more than 100,000 with a metro area of nearly a million people. Mendoza is the closest major city to Aconagua, the highest mountain in the America's at 22,841 feet.
Andrew Ford is a 22-year-old mass communication and journalism major from Eagle traveling through South America. He’s currently living in Santiago, Chile. You can follow him on Twitter, @barefootford, or you can visit his Web site, BarefootFord.com.
1. The cost of fruits and vegetables can drastically change the way you eat.
It’s really weird what happens when real, complete, fresh food is significantly cheaper than the manufactured stuff.
What happens to dinner when the cost of tomatoes, onions, olive oil and fresh basil (together) is less then the cost of one jar of tomato sauce? Or when the price of one $4 container of guacamole “dip” is the same price as eight pounds of avocados? Or what about when the cost of a watermelon smoothie will get you seven whole, fresh and juicy watermelons?
I don’t know all the consequences yet, but I do know that everyone looks slim and young here, despite having a corrupt government and smoking like a chimney all day (a pack of cigarettes is $0.75 US).
2. Incredible new breakfast cereals.
I don’t know where it came from or who invented it, but Bocaditos (English translation: Mouth appetizers?) destroys all my past cereal favorites, including Trix, Honey Bunches of Oats (with almonds) and even the impenetrable Cinnamon Life.
Bocaditos look modest in their boxless packaging, but once you pour them into a hip, square Argentinian bowl, prepare to have your world rocked. On immediate crunch you’ll notice a familiar flavor and texture, something akin to a Cheerio batter, but all ambiguity ends once you get through the first crunch.
Pow! Is this chocolate? Peanut butter? Almond butter? Who knows, the bag says “almond filling” but whatever blend of nuts, sugar and chocolate it’s made from, it’s here to be the new cereal king. On top of its intense flavor, is an intense price. Set far from the domestic brands, Bocaditos is $5.25 ($1.35 US) pesos for a full bag of this bad boy.
3. What must be considered when you’re talking about cereal? Milk.
In the U.S., grocery stores pride themselves on putting milk at the very back of the store, almost guaranteeing by the time you bring it back to the front you’ve lost one of the “use by” days. In Chile and Argentina, milk is treated with the same respect as any other food. At my local grocery store in Argentina, milk is across from the Dulce de Leche, jams and crackers in the non-refrigerated section. Usually sold in one liter cardboard boxes in Chile, and in one liter plastic bags in Argentina, most milk here doesn’t actually require refrigeration.
The reason: Mega pasteurization. It’s the sort of pasteurization that not only doesn’t require you to refrigerate milk before you buy it at the grocery store, but also prevents you from needing to refrigerate it till it’s opened. So you can stock up on milk almost like we stalk up on cans of tuna and Campbell’s soup. Let it sit till you need it which is what South Americans do.
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Posted by Andrew Ford on Mar 25 2010. Filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
