CUISINE-ARGENTINA: The Kitchen, A Place to Kindle Hope

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 29 2000 (IPS) - For many Argentineans, the kitchen has become a place to fight the feelings of discouragement and dejection that rising unemployment and falling wages have generated throughout society.

This space, which has long represented the servitude of women, is today the setting thousands of Argentineans have chosen for enjoying the culinary arts, studying gastronomy and, for some, transforming themselves into television stars.

One indication of the awakening interest in cuisine is a new cable TV channel in Latin America,
”elgourmet.com,” a 24-hour collection of cooking programmes currently available in Argentina, Mexico and Peru.

Viewers are treated to specialised shows in which they can learn how to prepare chicken livers in sherry or sweet cakes to eat at tea- time, or to find out the latest about new wines on the market.

With unemployment reaching 15.4 percent, and new wage cuts seemingly announced every week, many viewers in Argentina are limited to vicarious enjoyment of such delicacies, or attempting simplified and less expensive versions of the recipes at home.

Elgourmet.com programming ranges from shows that are virtual documentaries on food, to tasting events where well-known Latin American personalities get together and share their opinions on the food or the wine.

This “cooking” channel and its Internet version are the culmination of a process that began as a handful of television programmes in which the kitchen served as centre stage.

Some were a sort of talk show, or variety show, in which the kitchen adjoined a living-room set-up where the invited guests would sit and converse with the host.

But the format has evolved, as in the case of Argentina’s “Gato” Dumas, who cooks on television every Saturday night, filming at different locations throughout the country.

His kitchen is moved to the top of a mountain amid the snow, or alongside a lake, river or waterfall, or a beach – it does not matter if the weather is hot or cold. The dishes he prepares are related to the place, allowing viewers a broader appreciation of regional flavour.

Karlos Arguiñano, meanwhile, a Basque with a more traditional approach, cooks in a classically designed kitchen and without assistants. His popularity has grown with the new passion Argentineans have for rediscovering pleasure in the traditional, the day-to-day, the simple life – a realm were desires and their satisfaction are more within reach.

Arguiñano at first did not realise the magnitude of his show’s impact , but this Basque chef – who appeared in his audiences’ homes via cable TV – has become the best-known chef in Argentina.

Now his programme appears on elgourmet.com, where he cooks with Argentinean ingredients, making a pitch for his cookbooks and magazines.

In August his recipes began to appear as a weekly supplement to ‘Clarín ‘ newspaper, the top-selling daily in Argentina. The weekly booklets can also be purchased for a dollar. Each chapter of this collection is dedicated to a certain type of food.

The social phenomenon of this hedonist pleasure is increasingly widespread. Like a bottle of wine spilled on a flat, permeable surface, it penetrates and intoxicates actors, journalists, musicians and writers, who create an exquisite blend of approaches to this art form.

One such person is the actor Pablo Alarcón, who threw himself onto a stage that is far from traditional. He opened a restaurant in a theatre house where the public is invited to eat a two-course meal, accompanied by wine and followed by coffee, included in the price of the show.

The play is called, of course, “El Cocinero” (The Cook). It is a series of monologues about the history of food, beginning with “Adam’s apple,” says Alarcón himself, wearing an apron and the requisite tall, white chef’s hat.

The menu follows the course of the play, which alternates with jazz music, performed by an in-house combo.

Another example of originality is the brainchild of journalist Víctor Ducrot. After working as a correspondent for various international media agencies he wrote the book “Los sabores de la patria” (The Tastes of the Nation) and recently opened a restaurant in his home.

With no signage or advertising, Ducrot welcomes the first 20 table companions into his house – who have made the required reservations. There, he reveals the secrets of traditional Argentinean cuisine and of other cultures he came to know during his travels around the world as a journalist.

The ideas continue to bubble to the surface, here and there. A literary expert specialising in Jorge Luis Borges guides tourists through Buenos Aires who want to experience the links between the author of “El Aleph” and “Ficciones” and the Palermo neighbourhood. He concludes the tour in his home, cooking for the lovers of literature, naming the dishes in honour of favourite writers.

There is also a restaurant where the owner-chef sits down at each table and converses with the customers, getting to know each one and deciding what he will prepare for whom. The food that arrives at the table is a surprise and the diners are generally please to partake in the game of having an expert choose their meals for them.

The passion for cooking has been spreading beyond the family domain for some time now, especially among young people, who may not see cooking so much as a gender role as their parents do. In their quest for good food, they have driven the creation of more and more cooking schools.

One chef, who achieved fame because she would prepare pastries while wearing roller-skates, has now been invited to host her own programme, which will alternate high-risk sports with chocolate-dipped cooking. Anything goes, as long as it keeps the flame burning on the gas stove.