What a day: Sunday in a Swiss Colony in Argentina… Colonia Suissa was the first Swiss settlement in Patagonia. On Wednesday & Sunday there is an arts & crafts fair and restaurants prepare a traditional mapuche food called Curanto, in which they cook the food using a hole in the earth filled with hot rocks. I couldn’t miss that!
While waiting for the bus I had a chat with 3 Argentine womans – Cristina, Nancy and Maria Isabel – going there too. The cue was so long that they called another bus to bring everybody there.
When arriving we could see how they do prepare the food: a hole in the earth filled with hot rocks where they put first
nalca or maqui leaves, and add various vegetables and even fruits such as: carrots, onion, apple, pumpkin, of course potatoes… with different types of meat and and recover all that with ash to cook it for about 2 hours. It gives such a good taste to the food! It remind me of the great dish we had in Poland few years ago, cooked by Monika’s parents to make us discover a tradional food from her region! Monika, will you give me the name again?!
Portion are normally for 2 and at that time I was on my own as my 3 Argentine mate didn’t want to try. Finaly it wasn’t too much… I ate everything, I was happy to be alone… my trousers will hate me still…
After such a good meal I bump into Alessandro – the Italian guy with whom I went to Salsa course the day before – Elisabeth – from Austria – and 2 Dutch girls who came by bike – maybe I should have join them in the morning…
While I was thinking to go back to Bariloche I came accross Cristina, Nancy and her Mum Maria Isabel with Gustavo. They offer me to join them and Gustavo – guide in the region! – drove us around the famous Circuito Chico to see the outskirts and the characteristic sites of the city with a nice break at the lovely tea-cofee shop Bellevue for a small dessert… Thank you so much for this time shared together! It was terrific!