Best Gandinga Stew Near Me: Puerto Rico’s Offal Stew This is the dish Puerto Rican restaurants abroad most often leave off the menu, which is a shame, because when it is made properly it is one of the better things in the cuisine. Pork liver, heart, and kidney simmered in sofrito with potatoes produces something deep and savoury rather than confronting. The preparation is exacting, though, and that is precisely why it has become scarce.…
Best Alfajores Peruanos Near Me: Peru’s Crumbling Cornstarch Cookies The Peruvian version is defined by how it falls apart. Cornstarch replaces much of the flour in the dough, producing a biscuit so short and fragile that it collapses almost as soon as it meets your teeth, and the powdered sugar goes everywhere. Argentines coat theirs in chocolate. Peruvians leave theirs pale and let the texture do the work. Here is the guide. What They Are…
Best Milanesa Sandwich Near Me: Argentina’s Breaded Cutlet Sandwich The cutlet is supposed to hang over the edges of the bread. That is not a mistake or a boast, it is how the sandwich is built, and a milanesa that fits neatly inside its roll is generally a sign that someone has cut corners. Argentina takes this seriously enough that arguing about which shop makes the best one is a normal conversation. Here is the…
Best Arroz con Gandules Near Me: Puerto Rico’s National Rice The best part is scraped off the bottom of the pot. Pegao is the crisp golden layer of rice stuck to the base, and Puerto Rican households genuinely negotiate over who gets it. A dish where the burnt bit is the prize tells you something about how it is cooked, and about how seriously people take getting it right. Here is the guide. What It…
Best Morcipan Near Me: The Blood Sausage Sandwich Everyone knows choripán. Morcipán is its less exported sibling, built the same way with the same bread and the same chimichurri, except the sausage inside is morcilla rather than chorizo. That single swap changes the sandwich completely, from something meaty and coarse to something rich, soft, and faintly sweet. Argentines who prefer it tend to prefer it strongly. Here is the guide. What It Is Morcipán is…
Best Fugazzeta Near Me: Buenos Aires Stuffed Onion Pizza There is no tomato sauce anywhere in this. Cheese goes between two sheets of dough, the edges are sealed, sliced onion covers the top, and the whole thing bakes until the onion softens and the interior turns molten. It exists nowhere outside Argentina and Uruguay, and it is the pizza Buenos Aires would put forward if asked to name one. Here is the guide. What It…
Best Caldosa Cubana Near Me: Cuba’s Party Stew This is a dish you cannot really make for two people. Caldosa is cooked in a pot large enough to feed a street, and in Cuba that is frequently what it does, appearing at block parties and neighbourhood gatherings where a pot goes on and everyone eventually gets a bowl. A song made it famous. Here is the guide. What It Is Caldosa is a thick Cuban…
Best Matambre a la Pizza Near Me: Steak Topped Like a Pizza A thin cut of beef comes off the grill, gets a layer of tomato sauce, a heavy blanket of mozzarella, oregano and olives on top, then goes back near the heat until the cheese melts. It is a pizza construction on a meat base, and it is a genuine Argentine parrilla staple rather than a novelty. Cordoban and Buenos Aires grills both claim…
Best Humintas Near Me: The Corn Husk Parcels The parcel arrives tied shut and still warm, and unwrapping it is part of the process. Inside is a soft mass of ground fresh corn that has steamed inside its own husk, taking on a faint grassy sweetness from the wrapper. It can be sweet or savoury depending on where you are, which is the first thing to establish before ordering. Here is the guide. What They…
Best Locro Argentino Near Me: Argentina’s Patriotic Stew There are two days a year when Argentines eat this stew almost universally, and both are national holidays. Locro is not everyday food. It takes hours, it feeds a crowd, and it carries enough patriotic association that its appearance on a menu in late May or early July is essentially guaranteed while being far less certain in October. Here is the guide. What It Is Locro is…