Country Article / Postcards

Think Slow

Date: 05/23/2006

I remember when McDonald’s first came to Buenos Aires some 20 years ago. They paid the counter kids a dollar an hour--big wages in those days of an undervalued peso--but $2 an hour if they spoke English. McDonald’s was looking to the future. They’d need English-speaking Argentines to run the hundreds of outlets they’d planned to open there.

I recall, too, some controversy. Raul Alfonsin, Argentina’s president at that time, was against McDonald’s, figuring Argentines could make hamburgers, too. And, Argentine beef is considered the best in the world. Why import something that’s so easy to make here? Alfonsin was against anything that smacked of progress, or trade, or markets, and was forced to resign before his term was up. Today, McDonald’s has hundreds of restaurants in Argentina and employs thousands of workers. I don’t know if they still pay double for English-speakers, but thousands of young Argentines got their careers off the ground at a McDonald’s counter.

Since those days in the 1980s, other fast food chains have shown up, too. Argentines have caught on to the idea of eating on the run.

More recently, Argentines have been introduced to the Slow Food movement. Founded in Italy in 1986, Slow Food came to Argentina in 2004. The Slow Food people believe we can bring more joy to our lives by improving the quality of our food and dedicating more time to enjoying it. Slow Food is homemade with care and with local produce and ingredients, preferably organic. It ties in good eating with good food production and how food gets to our table: the politics, agriculture, chemistry, and ecology behind what we eat.

Earlier this year, my wife Vicki and I attended the Slow Food fair here in Buenos Aires and tried chocolates, preserves, homemade liquors, tea, smoked reptiles, olive oil, cookies, smoked venison, spices, organic vegetables, ice cream, beer, candy, cheese, fruit, coffee, and wine. The idea was to take time to taste the food.

Andres Rosberg, head of the Argentine Sommelier Association, points out that there are more than 500 varieties of grapes suitable for making wine, yet, every day, wine-growers are replacing their existing vines with those in highest demand by consumers: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, or chardonnay. By focusing on just four or five reds and two or three whites, we’re missing out.

Good chocolate is another hard find here (one Argentine friend buys hers in Europe). But Vicki and I were impressed with Fenix Chocolates, on display at the fair. Fenix has a point to make: where you buy your cocoa determines what your chocolate will taste like. We preferred their Esmeralda, with cocoa from Ecuador. But what we liked--and what you like, for that matter--is beside the point. What counts is that we have the chance to try it all.

Next time you pour a glass of champagne, cook a meal for friends, or sit down at a table, think slow. Think variety, color, texture, smell. Think chewing and swallowing and savoring. For more information, go to http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ (in the U.S.); http://www.slowfood.fr/ (in France); or http://www.slowfoodarg.com.ar/ (Argentina).

Paul Terhorst
For International Living