Try the best food from Argentina while you are visiting the country (or elsewhere in the world)

A way of life as well as a national dish, the asado is a key feature in any Argentinian’s social calendar. Also known as parrillada, asado is an outdoor barbeque event hosted by friends and family whereby a feast of meats will be grilled on parillas for hours until tender. While you’re waiting for the smoky chorizo, morcilla sausages and beef ribs to arrive on your plate, indulge in Malbec wine, appetizers and laughter with the hosts, all under the Argentine sun.

The Argentinian food version of a pasty (or Hot Pocket for the American readers among us), empanadas the ultimate on-the-go food brought over by Spanish immigrants in the 16^th century. Stuffed with sweet or savoury filling and wrapped in pastry, empanadas are then deep-fried or baked to crispy perfection in a clay oven, best served alongside a glass of Malbec. Try any of the spiced meat versions (chorizo, pork, ground turkey or beef) one day and the cheese or seafood version the next, finishing up with a sweet cinnamon or dulce de leche treat if you still have space. While in the Tucumán region, there’s only one way to go for lunch and that’s the empanada tucumana, a traditional recipe made using beef fat, hard-boiled eggs and paprika.

The no-fuss Argentine cuisine served up at any street food market or football stadium vendor around the country, the choripán deserves international renown. Watch your beef and pork chorizo sausage grill over wood flames, before being butterflied down the middle, topped with chimichurri and handed to you in a baguette or marraqueta roll. So yes, it’s an Argentinian hotdog, but it’s the sauces and quality of the meat that marks it apart from its US equivalent. Swap the chimichurri for caramelized onion, pickled aubergine and green peppers if you so wish.

Locro is typically served at one of two times; on May 25th to commemorate the day of the revolution and during the cold winter season. Whenever you try it, locro is certain to warm you to the bone, with its filling soup base made from a mixture of corn, beans, potatoes and squash, and likely a choice of beef, chorizo or tripe. For all the more flavour, locro is seasoned with cumin and bay leaf and topped off with a dash of chimichurri hot sauce for a happy mouth and a full belly.

Another offering heavily influenced by the Italians is the fugazza. Essentially an Argentinian pizza, the fugazza differs slightly from its predecessor with a thick dough likened to focaccia or sourdough, topped with a thin coating of sauce, caramelised onions and lots of cheese. Besides the original Buenos Aires flavour, the fugazza can come topped with whatever you fancy – usually spicy sausage and other meats. A second-generation version of the fugazza for the most fiendish of cheese lovers is the fugazzeta, a mozzarella-stuffed monster similar to a calzone.

A regular appearance in or on top of many Argentina desserts, dulce de leche is a saccharine all-rounder. Made from caramelised condensed milk, you already know you’re going to enjoy this one, whether drizzled over helado (ice cream), dripping from pancakes or spread thickly on bread. One of the outcomes of Argentina’s thriving grasslands and cattle industry is dairy and, as such, a hell of a lot of “dulce de leche” is produced each year. Loosely translated as ‘milk jam’ or ‘ milk candy’, dulce de leche is good in sweet empanadas and heavenly when layered up in the Argentinian version of mille-feuille, known as rogel.