Argentina -- Glossary

For those of you that might be curious and didn't grow up in Argentina:

Cuis - guinea pigs. We had some living in our woodpile, but we never managed to capture any.

Empanadas - meat, eggs, carrots, and peas wrapped in a tortilla-like dough and fried

Milanesa Napolitana - Milanesa is a thin-sliced, breaded steak, sometimes veal. Milanesa Napolitana also has ham, cheese, and a little tomato sauce on top.

Papas Fritas Espai - shoestring potatoes

Carniceria - butcher shop

Dulce de Leche - carmelized sweetened condensed milk

Maizenas and Alfajores - pastries eaten with tea. You must find alfajores, and you must eat them. You must eat them. Buy the Havana brand if you can, but you must eat them.

Pan Dulce - also known as panetonne.

Submarinos - piping hot milk with a chocolate bar in it, served in a glass with a metal sheath with a handle so you don't burn your hand

Charango - a guitar-like instrument. Some Argentine charangos are made with an armadillo shell for the back

Red Poncho with a Black Fringe - the traditional poncho of the province of Salta.

Guemes - a gaucho hero from Salta who was killed in the war for independence against the Spanish

Veinte de Febrero - the name of the church we went to, named after the street it was on. Literally, the 20th of February, which is Argentina's Independence Day

Peatonal - a road that has been temporarily or permanently closed off with shops on both sides