Cheese: a country obsessed

In a TV advert for cream cheese, a fat chef in whites sings, “La comida sin queso es como la vida sin beso”. (Food without cheese is like a life without kisses). This pretty much sums up the Argentine attitude to cheese. There’s lots of it. Everywhere. Sometimes its presence is a little dubious: fried meat in breadcrumbs topped with mountains of cheese, or in that obscene dish, trout with Roquefort. Blue cheese and fish is something I don’t think I will ever get into, even after months of living here.
And then there's the pizzas. Oh, the pizzas! Just the subtlest hint of tomato sauce under a thick blanket of melted 'muzzarella'…

However one cheese-fest I would recommend is provoletta. An Italian cheese with herbs the Argentines melt until it turns into a soft, slightly rubbery consistency. Cut the crispy surface and gooey cheese oozes out of the middle. Tuck in, and battle with strings of the stuff connecting fork to nucleus. Delicious.

The only thing is, Argentines tend to have provoletta as a starter, often served before a fat steak. When we tried this a month ago, we didn’t sleep and felt ill for days. Ah, what novices we were! Half a kilo of melted cheese before a 350g steak requires training of course. Slowly, slowly, we’re getting there… The other day we tried this combo again and only felt slightly ill. Result!