An Argentine condiment used to accompany grilled steak and other meats, chimichurri is a pesto-like sauce made from onions, garlic, parsley, dried oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, oil and vinegar. It is best made fresh, but it is also occasionally available in dehydrated and bottled versions.
Legend has it that chimichurri was invented by a traveling Brit of some sort, its odd name a bastardization of possible inventors Jimmy McCurry, Jimmy Curry or James C. Hurray. Now a popular accompaniment throughout Latin America, it is often called the ketchup of Argentina.
Recipe: Chimichurri Marinade (Cookthink)
Recipe: Grilled Flat-Iron Steak With Chimichurri Sauce (Kalyn's Kitchen)
Empanadas are named after the Spanish verb empanar, which means to coat or wrap in bread.
Baked or fried turnovers that are made with pastry dough and stuffed with endless combinations of meat and/or vegetables or fruit, empanadas are usually shaped like half-moons and range in size from bite-sized to family-sized.
Many countries around the world claim the empanada as one of their own, including Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Spain, where empanadas are thought to have been born in Galicia. Indian samosas are one example of similar preparations found elsewhere in the world.
Yerba mate is the green tea of South America.
A grassy tasting infusion made from the dried leaves (and sometimes twigs) of the yerba mate plant, it has less caffeine than coffee but is easier on the stomach. Devotees swear by it for creating alertness without the jittery effects of coffee.
In South America, yerba mate is traditionally sweetened with sugar substitute stevia and drunk from decorated gourd cups with a straw.
Stevia is a sugar substitute. Made from South and Central American herbs and shrubs, whose leaves have up to 45 times more sweetness than table sugar, stevia has been used for centuries to sweeten yerba mate.
Since the 1970s, the Japanese have been the largest consumers of stevia in the world, and it can also be found throughout Asia, South America and Israel.
Because of health and safety concerns, the U.S. banned stevia in the early 1990s but It was approved as a food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the end of 2008. It is currently banned in the E.U., Singapore and Hong Kong pending more research.
A cardoon is a vegetable, also known as the artichoke thistle, that looks a bit like celery on a bad day and has a flavor reminiscent of artichoke hearts and salsify.
Popular in Italy, Spain and France, the cardoon is related to the Globe artichoke. An invasive, frost-sensitive plant that needs a lot of space, the cardoon grows as a weed in the Argentine pampas, California and Australia.
Cardoons can be baked, braised or boiled, and it's often a good idea to blanch them for up to 30 minutes before using them. (Beware of sneaky thistles that may be lurking on the outer stalks -- it's best to peel the outside a bit.)
High in sodium, cardoons are nevertheless recognized as a good source of potassium, calcium and iron. Artichoke oil, which is similar to sunflower or safflower oil, can be extracted from cardoon seeds. It is currently being studied and tested for its biofuel potential.
