Patagonian Lamb - Argentina

Today’s brief is brought to you by the letter C. Yesterday, C was for Centolla, Chiko’s, and the catastrophic nature of my experience with both. Is it pure coincidence that the chords of my calamity are so clearly characterized by a single letter? I think not.

But featured letters are usually used to depict the more positive things in life. That or I missed the episode of Sesame Street where C was for cringe. And for every encounter, there is often a counter, and today, C is for Cordero, which is by far the best thing I had in Patagonia and possibly all of Argentina.

For starters, I sought the comfort of Ushuaia’s Bodegon Fueguino, the only Ushuaian restaurant I encountered with a line out the door. And no wonder. This sweet, cozy, winery-esque abode is all charm with a capital C, and the fire-pit-on-a-spit Cordero with a sweet glaze of orange and honey was pure Patagonian nectar. I was afraid that sweetness would interfere with the gamey lamb, but nothing could cover up something this good.

I tried a different “cuts” of lamb in El Calafate, the first being this taste of Lamb Tripe. Yes, it is what it looks like. Don’t look too closely – I won’t be culpable for upsetting a stomach much weaker than mine.

I found the idea of Lamb Pie highly suspicious, and after canoodling with the culinary tourist traps all over Costa Rica, I was even more reluctant to dine at a restaurant bearing their cultural catch-phrase, no matter how highly recommended it came. Clearly I was wrong about Pura Vida, as evidenced by this crock of what I can only describe as Patagonian shepherd’s pie. I’ve had pie, but this Lamb Pie trumped all. The crust of sweet potato was a silky smooth mash, the filling was a gamey mix of crumbly ground cordero combined with small slices of not-yet mushy eggplant. Song, songof the far down south, here’s a sweet potato pie that’ll shut my mouth.