Meat, meat, meat

I have eaten more beef over these past few days than I have in any other month of my life. Shabbos, of course, was shabbos, and the usual meat was served, either in brisket or cholent form. On sunday I went to an asado with the Goldfarb family, where I ate chorizo and more ribs than I can remember, and yesterday, ah, yesterday, I went to what is considered one of the better meat restaurants here in Buenos Aires and ate, not only a steak, but a small intestine. Well, not an entire small intestine, but delicious chunks of a cow's small intestine. For years I have been dying to eat real 'kishke,' as it were, and finally I had the opportunity. This was not the starchy-orange stuffing in a gross paper wrapping that you see in American cholents. In fact, this wasn't stuffed at all. In fact, the English bit of the menu called it tripe (but cow's stomachs are not tubular and thin-ish). They were wonderful grilled sections of innards with a meaty flavor far more intense than muscle and with a delightful crispy on the outside but very soft, almost liver-ish, on the inside. I will have to go back to try the 'real' meat, which I was actually in the mood for, but, when I saw the offal on the menu, I had to resist. The offal was anything but, and everyone should give it a shot. On the other hand, the coconut flan I got for dessert was pretty terrible. And, in keeping with the great prices, two kebabs of small intestine, a steak, a large order of fries, shared, a liter of beer, shared, a bottle of seltzer, shared, and the flan put me back 70 pesos, or about 18.50 American. Including table service. Argentina can be the solution for many a guy's dating dilemmas. Going out to eat is so expensive in New York, especially if, as with most frum girls, the guy pays for the entire date (the other option is 'going Dutch' where each pays for his/her own, supposedly gaining popularity). Here, the greatest meal for two in the greatest restaurant won't put the fellow back more than 40 dollars, which, in a nice New York restaurant, won't even buy one person a steak. It's too bad the airfare is so expensive; Buenos Aires could become a great date-cation place.