Friday night we went with friends to the Armenia Restaurant (that’s really the name) on the first floor of the Armenian Cultural Center in Palermo. ***Note – as in most places in Europe, the 1st floor is what you would call the 2nd floor in the U.S., the ground floor is not counted*** This building is also home to a milonga in the basement and dance lessons to prepare for the milonga on the ground floor. I have no idea what’s above the 1st floor, but the building is a busy place.

It was as authentic as you can get in Argentina. Right down to the sign over the bar that stated (in Spanish, of course) “DO NOT LET TURKEY INTO THE EU.” We had Mediterranean mezes – hummus, tabbouleh, eggplant, roasted vegies, etc. and then meat kabobs, rice, and salad. The food was very good.

The highlight of the evening was the show. Two dancers came into the empty spot among the tables and danced for us. First two Armenian numbers and then more fast paced Greek dances. The audience participation portion came and many people went up to dance. After everyone at our table hemmed and hawed a bit I decided “why not” and joined in. It was a blast. After the twisting, turning line dance, they had us all sit around in a circle while the principal dancers and then some audience members danced around a glass of ouzo and money. It was really interesting to see some of the audience members get up there as some of them obviously knew what they were doing. The owners of the place broke a few plates, but instead of having people dance around them, they broke them off to the side and swept them up right away, which we all thought was a little odd, but made sense if you don’t want people to trip. The dance ended when someone spilled the glass of ouzo.

The smell of the ouzo brought me instantly back to sitting along the waterfront watching the sunset on Paros. It was such a strong memory trigger that I was homesick for the island and our friends Wilie and Rob (if you are reading this, drop us a note – Γειά! Τι κάνεις;)

We didn’t bring our camera, but I am hoping I can get some shots from our friend to post later.

Armenia Restaurant  – Armenia 1366

We found a Mexican restaurant while walking home the other day and last night we went back to try it out. It was actually kind of funny to see the Argentinean version of Mexican food. The chips and salsa were fried flour tortillas with what was kind of like thin tomato soup as a salsa. We got tacos – pork and chicken, neither of which had any sort of seasoning, much less spice. We also got pico de gallo (tomatoes) refried beans (canned, but not bad) and guacamole (they added some sort of cream to it rather than just salt and lemon). The worst part was that it was expensive. Skip it. We are definitely going to have to gather ingredients and host a Mexican food night. If you’re in the area let us know if you are interested.

El Salto de las Ranas Rodriguez Peña 1169

Yeah, it’s been a week and I miss Mexican food. John and I cruised the grocery stores the other day looking for ingredients. Most Portenos (residents of Buenos AIres) do not eat spicy food so finding chilies was a big concern. We did find some dried chilies in the specialty section of a large grocery store – we were very excited. We then discovered that there are often little old ladies sitting outside of the grocery stores on the weekends selling their produce – including fresh chilies! We’re saved. Now we only need a kitchen.
Once we get a place, you are all welcome to come visit, just bring some Tabasco Sauce, or Peppers, or Thai Chili Paste with you.

While in Athens we went to the meat market. It is a bit different from the sterile, saran wrapped way we procure meat in most of America.

Here the goats are split down the middle and shown with internal organs intact to prove how fresh they are. There are baskets of livers, tables of heads, lines full of plucked chickens that still have their heads and feet.

Goat heads anyone? The butchers are standing by in their bloody aprons with huge cleavers ready to chop off whatever you wish from that side of beef, or perhaps carve you some pork chops. It was fun to watch the older Greek women poking at the meat and haggling over the prices.

The most interesting thing though was the rabbits. They have been skinned except for their feet and tails which still have fluffy bunny fur. I couldn’t tell if they had been gutted or not – I think not.

I couldn’t help wondering what happened when your average Greek woman arrived home with the bunny. Did she cut off the feet and hang them in the kitchen to dry for good luck? Was the rabbit cooked with the head on or off? Did they have a specialty made with the internal organs? Things to ponder.

UPDATE: We were talking with Willy, who we met at the hotel on Paros, and she says that the reason they keep the fuzzy bunny feet and tail is so that you are guaranteed the product is indeed rabbit and not cat. Yes, apparently it is difficult to tell the difference between a skinned cat and a skinned rabbit and butchers now find it necessary to guarantee that they are selling the real thing. Now we know.