Steak and Wine Dinner
Dinner was a wine pairing at an authentic Argentinian Steak House (La Choza de Gascon) and was excellent. The restaurant was filled with locals -- mostly families having dinner. Our host was Diego, who decided about 18 years ago that there was more money to be made in wine than in teaching English, so he made the jump.
This was a small event – 4 guests – us and another couple from Brazil on their honeymoon. Diego was great in explaining about the various wines, the regions they come from in Argentina, and why they have the various properties they have. There were four wines that we sampled, plus homemade Limoncello at the end – something tart and with enough sugar to send you up into hummingbird territory.
Each wine was more or less paired with a different course, although we were free to repeat or skip whatever ones we wanted. First was an empanada, which is a pastry filled with beef. This was followed by a melted cheese (you could feel your arteries begin to clog), then we had a house-made pork sausage that was amazing.
After that came the main course – probably a cut of steak that we would call a “rib eye” in the US, with a bit more fat than we generally opt for, but still extremely tasty. This was accompanied by creamed spinach with parmesan cheese that was about the best we’d ever had, roasted red peppers with enough garlic and olive oil to ensure that vampires would not bother us on the way home, and the whole thing was wrapped up with a dulce de leche (which is more or less flan with a caramel sauce and a thick dark chocolate mousse).
It was incredibly decadent and very enjoyable overall. The unfortunate thing we learned is that many of the wines we sampled are “small batch” and are not imported to the US, so we can’t run down to the Piggly Wiggly (Lowes) and pick up a bottle or two.
This was a small event – 4 guests – us and another couple from Brazil on their honeymoon. Diego was great in explaining about the various wines, the regions they come from in Argentina, and why they have the various properties they have. There were four wines that we sampled, plus homemade Limoncello at the end – something tart and with enough sugar to send you up into hummingbird territory.
Each wine was more or less paired with a different course, although we were free to repeat or skip whatever ones we wanted. First was an empanada, which is a pastry filled with beef. This was followed by a melted cheese (you could feel your arteries begin to clog), then we had a house-made pork sausage that was amazing.
After that came the main course – probably a cut of steak that we would call a “rib eye” in the US, with a bit more fat than we generally opt for, but still extremely tasty. This was accompanied by creamed spinach with parmesan cheese that was about the best we’d ever had, roasted red peppers with enough garlic and olive oil to ensure that vampires would not bother us on the way home, and the whole thing was wrapped up with a dulce de leche (which is more or less flan with a caramel sauce and a thick dark chocolate mousse).
It was incredibly decadent and very enjoyable overall. The unfortunate thing we learned is that many of the wines we sampled are “small batch” and are not imported to the US, so we can’t run down to the Piggly Wiggly (Lowes) and pick up a bottle or two.
The ride home was much less harrowing than the ride there which, given the fact that we were too stuffed to do much other than just sit there, was all for the best.
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