April 28, 2025 Brunch - cafe Selena. Dinner - Criolla Cooking Lesson
Today I spent the morning working on an Earn transaction.
Then at 10:30 we took a taxi to the Japanese Gardens. From there we walked about 1/3 mile to Cafe Selena in the park next to the Gardens and ordered breakfast.
Everyone ordered well except me. Suzette ordered a multigrain bread sandwich stuffed with ham and cheese. Elaine was the winner with an order of fluffy scrambled eggs, a potato cake, and salad of arugula. Billy ordered a sticky caramel bun. I ordered a pastry consisting of two cookies filled with chocolate and coated with icing of which I ate very little, mainly because Suzette shared her chispi bread sandwich and Elaine shared her eggs with me.
The building dates from 1877 and is built of wood. The terrace and steps are bounded by Egypt Revival Sphinxes.
We then walked back to the Japanese garden at noon. When we entered we found that it was really crowded, but jam packed with lots of Japanese architectural features and colorful flowers.
We met Billy and Elaine at 1:00 and decided to go to the Fernandez Blanco house which is one of the remaining Belle Epoque houses left unchanged up in the city. It was packed full of furnishings of that era, including the dining room set for a banquet.
After visiting the Blanco house we returned to the apartment to rest until 6:30 when we Left for our Criolla cooking class.
It turned out that Restaurant Fogon and this class were owned by the same company. I have noticed that there are many chains of restaurants with many locations throughout B.A. and some with different names, but with similar concepts. To be more specific, both Fogon and Criolla are solely committed asadero restaurants. They both use the same purveyors of meats, vegetables, and wines, but Fogon serves a Michelin recommended 14 course tasting menu, whereas Criolla provides a hands on no fail asadero cooking class guided by a seasoned chef and a helper who is also a sommelier to cook and serve a complete dinner. Their common element is that both concepts appear aimed at rich tourists.
We started by making the sauces, a chimichurri and a Criolla sauce all the ingredients for both were explained and Thomas, the master chef, showed us the cutting techniques. Soon we had a bowl of each. For the Criolla he explained and showed Suzette how to add 1/2 cup of each of apple infused white vinegar and olive oil. I had never heard of adding apple infused white vinegar but apparently it is mandatory.
Then he built the fire using corks soaked in olive oil, which I thought was a neat trick and using two kinds of wood a soft fast burning wood and a hard slow burning wood.
Then he showed us the vegetables. Thomas cut two sweet potatoes into quarters lengthwise and we smeared them with butter and dusted them with minced thyme and rosemary and wrapped them in aluminum foil. The same was done with round pitty pan squashes after they were lightly scored in a diamond configuration and red onions cut in half.
I then helped make a quiche in a green bell pepper Thomas cut in half by sautéing about 1/2 cup of Criolla sauce in a skillet with butter and then adding 1 T. of roasted and creamed garlic and a bit of salt and the 1 cup of grated soft cheese and finally three whisked egg. I filled the green peppers to almost full and Thomas put them on the coals.
The secret of asado is the slow cooking with hot coals.
Elaine made the chispa bread by combining flour, cheese and milk. Then she measured 80 gram balls and flattened them into patties that were cooked on the coals.
Eggplants were also laced directly onto the coals and made into a smoky baba Ghanoush.
Thomas also heated provolone cheese into small flattened cakes that he then cut into wedges.
The meats were introduced and cooked in succession. The bottom of a pork belly stripped most of its fat, the asado (beef short ribs), a entire sweetbread, cooked on both sides and then sliced in half and both internal halves cooked until it was fully cooked, a flat iron steak, and a spicy sausage like chorizo.
Vlodymyr, the sommelier, first poured a wine I had never had before, a dry Semillon from the Uco Valley named Mara after a small animal that lives there. It was excellent and immensely drinkable. Then later a Malbec Malbec, meaning two different Malbecs blended, named D.V. Catena, produced by Zapata winery that was named the best winery in the world in 2023, located in Luján de Cuyo. These two wines were better than any served the night before at Fogon. These two wines Zapata was perfectly smooth and elegant from front to back of the mouth.
Suzette cut up the sweetbreads and Elaine cut up the pork belly when it was cooked. Thomas lightly scored the pork belly’s fatty side before cooking it.
Besides the four of us there was Brett, who is a real chef in the Maryland area, who was interested in the Argentinian grilling technique and a very likable guy, so fun to share a meal with.
Finally Thomas made crepes and Dulce de Leche with whipped cream and a lightly grilled peach.
It was a lovely meal that did not keep me up at night, probably due to the balance of meat and vegetables and our ability to choose our portions, as everything was served family style.
We went home at 11:00 and had a shit of grappa Anejo and I drank a cup of tea before going to bed.
It was a great cooking lesson.
Bon Appetit
