From Argentina With Love

Te Extraño (I Miss You) at the 33rd Annual Denver International Film Festival

 

 

This fall I was lucky enough to have the chance to work with the 33rd Annual Starz Denver Film Festival, doing some screening and writing.  Not only did I get to watch some amazing independent and foreign films, and then write about them, but the film festival itself is one big party--full of food, film and fun.

At this year's festival, they combining two of my favorite things--wine and cinema!  Five films have been paired with wines from their respective countries of production; tastings will follow the screenings in the Argonaut Wine & Liquor Filmmaker Lounge. 

 
 
 
On Saturday, November 13 at 2:00pm, there will be a screening of the beautiful, poignant film Te Extraño (I Miss You), based on real-life events in director Fabian Hofman's life during the Dirty War of the 1970s.  Afterwards, enjoy a tasting of Argentinean wines.  For more details, (and to read more about the film) see the Starz Denver Film Festival website. 

(There are two other Argentinean films, Carancho and Puzzle in the festival this year, but more about those in my next post!)

I will be attending the Te Extraño screening and Wine-Tasting Event on Saturday, November 13th at 2:00pm, along with members of the Casa Argentina of Denver.  After the screening, there will be an Argentinean wine tasting, courtesy of Argonaut Wine and Liquor. There are a limited number of tickets for this event, get yours today, they will sell out!

Don't miss it--and I hope to see you there!

Tortas Fritas--Rainy Day Fried Bread

 

This morning as I bustled around getting ready to take Esteban to preschool, the wind was blowing but the sun was shining; an autumn chill was in the air.  On our drive, the weather was a bizarre mix that defines Colorado's typically atypical seasonal weather--bright morning sun in the East, and a wall of black clouds looming on the horizon.  Miraculously, a bright rainbow was seen, too, and it seemed to lead right to our son's preschool--the thought of his teachers 'bringing' the rainbow to school just delighted him.  After drop-off, I lingered to talk to another mom and coo over her new baby, and by the time I left ten minutes later, the weather had completely changed.  It was now a despicable, blustery mess.

We have an expression in Colorado:  "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute!"  It sums up our mercurial climate perfectly, since things here can change in a heartbeat.  I dashed to my car.  The wind was whipping fiercely, gold leaves skittered sideways across the road, and icy rain pelted my windshield.  I only had one thought as I raced home.

 

Argentinean Style Steak with Salsa Criolla Class Tonight!

 

Tonight I'll be teaching a cooking class at Whole Foods in Denver.  The class is on Argentine-Style Steak with Salsa Criolla, the delicious relish pictured above.  If you're in the area, I hope you can come by!  And if not, keep your fingers crossed that I don't burn the steak, then  make the recipe, which goes great with steak, chicken or seafood.  Thanks for your support and see you tonight!

WHOLE FOODS TAMARAC

Argentinean Steak and Salsa Criolla--6:30pm

74oo E. Hampden Ave.

Denver, CO

303-488-2000--please call ahead for registration!

Humitas en Chala con Queso de Cabra--Corn Pudding Tamales with Goat Cheese

 

Today you get a tidbit of Argentinean history along with your tidbit of food:

In 1879, the forces of Tucuman-born future oligarch of Argentina General Roca wiped out most of the indigenous peoples that inhabited the Pampa.  Such was the nature of conquest--'new' lands being colonized by to extend land expansion meant death or enslavement for native peoples--what amounted to a genocide of Mapuche tribes.  Roca's campaigns left the country with a 97% European population, and most of the land went into the hands of himself and his friends--a power that led to his election as president. 

 Sadly, so many indigenous traditions during campaigns such as Roca's are lost, but then, a few survive--and one of the things that most often carries on are recipes--because they are created from what is readily available in the area.  Argentina in the 1870s was pretty inhospitible for European immigrants, and the popularity of such native foods like squash, pumpkin and corn were due to the dearth of good quality greens, which is really the only way that recipes like this have carried on.