A Culinary Journey Across

South America

The national dish of Argentina is asados (a variety of barbecued meat) grilled on a parillo (a large grill) that is packed with steaks; ribs; chorizo; mollejas (sweetbread), chinchulines (chitterlings) and morcilla (blood sausage).
Empanadas are Argentina's favorite street food; these stuffed dough pockets are similar to Puerto Rico's empanadilla or a Cornish pasty.

In South America, one of the most important grains is quinoa or quinua in Spanish.

Quinoa originated in South America and in particular the Andes region. This includes the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.

More than 5,000 years ago, quinoa was the daily diet of the Inca people. It was known as the “Golden Grain of The Andes.”

Widely known around the world as a superfood, today quinoa is recognized for being a nutritionally dense food source and supergrain of the future.

Argentina and Peru produce several different types of quinoa. Braised beef short ribs

Buñuelos

Cannellonis

Chili

Chimichurri

Curried quinoa with chickpeas

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Bolivia, with its rich cultural heritage, offers a delightful array of traditional dishes. The most savory Bolivian foods are:

Anticucho:
Originating in the Andean mountain ranges during the 16th century, anticucho features skewered beef or chicken hearts. Similar to shish kebabs, it’s often served with potatoes and a peanut sauce. Look for Anticucheras, street food stalls, to savor this unique
Cuñapé:
A favorite in Eastern Bolivia, especially in Santa Cruz and the Northeastern Regions, cuñapé consists of white cheese, egg, salt, milk, and yam flour formed into bread balls. Pair it with a cup of coffee or tea for an energy boost during your explorations.
Empanadas de Queso:
If you adore empanadas, the Bolivian version will win your heart. These cheesy delights are enjoyed throughout South America and can be found at street vendors’ food stalls. Whether baked or fried, they make a delightful breakfast or teatime treat.
Queso Humacha:
Dairy lovers, rejoice! Queso humacha is a thick and creamy soup made with corn, green beans, potatoes, milk, Altiplano cheese, and an Andean spice called wacatya. It’s hearty and perfect for refueling during your Bolivian adventures.
Sajta de Pollo:
This traditional meal combines a flavorful sauce (sajta) with chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, plain rice, and peanuts. Often served for lunch, locals enjoy it during special occasions like Carnivals and All Saints’ Day. Fresh celery, garlic, and parsley garnish enhance the dish’s flavors. You’ll find sajta de pollo in restaurants across La Paz and Santa Cruz.

These dishes reflect Bolivia’s diverse culinary heritage, blending indigenous ingredients with European influences. Buñuelos

Curried quinoa with chickpeas

Empanadas

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The cuisine and cooking methods in Brazil varies greatly from region to region but fresh meat and fish play an important role in the diet.
• Feijoada – black bean stew with smoked meats. This is a time-consuming dish and generally served to friends and family that are staying overnight. • Vatapá – a shrimp and cashew nut dish.
• Pastel de Acelgas - swiss chard and chorizo sausage tart.
• Moqueca de Peixe – a fish stew with plenty of coconut flavouring.
• Cururu de Camarao – a gumbo (stew or soup) made from shrimp and okra.
• Pizza – the Brazilians have adopted pizza as one of their own unique foods, using a variety of toppings.
• Chancaca - Glazed salmon with pineapple salsa. Brazilian cheese bread

Brazilian feijoada - black bean stew

Croque Monsieur sandwich

Moqueca seafood stew

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Stretching over 2,600 miles, Chile is a country that covers a range of landscapes and climates. From the Atacama Desert to the frozen Patagonian Ice Fields, Chile is a country of enormous geographical diversity. As a result, the country has a vast range of dishes to sample.
In Chile, food is diverse as the country’s landscape, taking in everything from delicious fish to tasty spices.

Along the Pacific coast, travelers can try dishes like pastel de jaiba, a crab pie, or Reinata, an unusual white fish.

Meanwhile, at Santiago’s famous Mercado Central, you can try succulent churrasco steak to name but one of the delights on offer.

Chilean specialties
• Pastel de Choclo: corn casserole with meat stuffing
• Empanadas: pastry filled with meat, cheese or mussels
• Cazuela: homemade stew with beef, chicken, corn, rice and potatoes
• Asado: barbecue of beef, pork or chicken
• Reineta, Congrio, Corvina: the most typical fish
• Locos: a rare type of mollusks
• Jaiva: shrimp, crab
• Centolla: king crab with tender meat of reddish color Empanadas

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Colombian cuisine is a compound of the culinary traditions of the six main regions within the country (Pacific, Amazonian, Andean, Orinoco, Caribbean, and Insular). Colombian cuisine varies regionally and is particularly influenced by Indigenous Colombian, Spanish, and African cuisines, with slight Arab influence in some regions. Furthermore, being one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Colombia has one of the widest variety of available ingredients depending on the region.
Arepa
there is nothing more Colombian than the arepa. A circular bread made from fresh cornmeal, arepas are the foundations of many meals, and often times they’re eaten alone.
Bandeja Paisa
Colombia’s national dish, without a doubt, is the bandeja paisa. Reigning from the Antioquia region (where Medellín is located, and where natives are referred to as paisas), the bandeja paisa is a feast that is not for the faint-hearted. On one plate you’ll normally find steak, ground beef, chicharrones, rice, beans, an egg, avocado, an arepa, and plantains.
Buñuelos
Another popular street food and an unmissable staple during the holiday months of November and December, buñuelos can best be described as fried dough balls that are somehow simultaneously sweet and savory. You can find some filled with cheese, but the Colombian version is fairly plain and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Cazuela de Mariscos
With coastlines along the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, you’d imagine that Colombia knows a thing or two about seafood cuisine The cazuela de mariscos is a thick, hearty soup that can include lobster, shrimp, white fish, and vegetables, all bathed in a broth of creamy coconut milk. It’s considered to be an aphrodisiac, but we’ll leave it up to you to see if the facts hold true
Leonor Espinosa, chef-owner of Leo and Misia in Bogotá and recently crowned Latin America's Best Female Chef, said: “Colombia is the country of wrapped dishes. There are over 60 different leaves used to preserve, wrap and cook different ingredients. Working and cooking with leaves is wonderful and it’s something not everyone knows about.” Buñuelos

Empanadas

Turkey fajitas

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The typical food of Ecuador include:
Plantain Chips:
Plantain chips are a very satisfying snack. A plantain looks like a banana, and tastes a bit like a sweet potato.
.Aji:
Aji is an Ecuadorian hot sauce served with many dishes, given that the food is rarely spicy.
Menestra
Menestra is a bean side dish, a bit like chili; only it’s not spicy and doesn’t have any meat.
Corviche
is deep fried fish in a grated plantain flour, topped with fresh red onions and tomato with lemon juice and a special mayo. Corviche is typically served on Ecuador’s coast.
Higos con Queso (Figs and cheese)
This is a popular dessert, candied figs with local, unsalted, soft cheese. more....

The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf.

The principal islands are about 300 miles (483 kilometres) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast.

The Falkland Islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory.
Under the 2009 Constitution, the islands have full internal self-government;
the UK is responsible for foreign affairs, retaining the power "to protect UK interests and to ensure the overall good governance of the territory".

Fish and chips: Just as in Britain, fish and chips is an incredibly popular meal in the Falkland Islands and Stanley, the nation's capital, has its own fish and chip shop.
Lamb, mutton and beef:
The Falkland Islandsare known for organic meat that is ranched on the plains of the islands.
Asian crab cakes

Barbecued pork loin

Braised leg of lamb cleopatra

Brochettes of lamb

Caribbean conch stew

Coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce

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Seafood is a centerpiece of food in French Guiana, as the colony has a coastline with access to plenty of fresh fish from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Abundant fresh vegetables and fruit feature in the country’s main dishes, plus plenty of hot peppers and spices to add flavor, such as allspice, belimbi and cayenne, the namesake spice of the French Guyanese capital. Local chefs use these spices not only for flavor but also to add color in a dish's presentation.
French Guyanese dishes tend to mix several ingredients all in one, combining meats, produce and carbohydrates. Curry recipes and fricassees are examples, commonly seen throughout the nation.
French Guianan Cuisine or Guianan Cuisine is a mixture of French, Bushinengue, and indigenous cuisines, supplemented by influences from the cuisines of more recent immigrant groups. Common ingredients include cassava, smoked fish, and smoked chicken. Mussels in mustard sauce

Pizza margherita

Tahiti tuna ceviche

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the national food of Guyana? pepperpot Along with chicken curry, and cook up rice, pepperpot is one of Guyana's national dishes. Pepperpot is a stewed meat dish, strongly flavoured with cinnamon, cassareep (a special sauce made from the cassava root) and other basic ingredients, including Caribbean hot peppers.
Guyanese food is simple, earthy, tasty and comforting. It is quite similar to that of the rest of the Anglo Caribbean countries such as Antigua, thanks to a similar ethnic mix. Indeed, the food reflects the varied culture of the country, whose inhabitants are of African, Creole, East Indian, Amerindian, Portuguese, Chinese and even European (British) descent, and its colonial history. more....

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Peru is becoming the new giant exporter of fruits and vegetables from South America to the world. Most of the fruits and vegetables they’re exporting are in the superfood category. They include avocados, blueberries, pomegranate, figs, citrus and asparagus.

There are very few countries that can say their main exports are superfoods. Peru’s agricultural growth is attributed to a combination of the country’s climate and its product diversification. The climate conditions of Peru are ideal for growing superfoods. Blueberry basic pie filling

Buñuelos

Curried quinoa with chickpeas

Lentil salad with corn and red onion

Strawberry delight

Vegetable-chickpea chili

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Most Popular Suriname Dishes
Suriname’s history has had a significant impact on it’s cuisine, which has been influenced by African, Asian and European cuisines.
After slavery was abolished in the 19th century, servants from India and other parts of Asia were brought to Suriname to work on the plantations.
Surinamese cuisine is characterized by its use of fresh herbs and spices, as well as its bold and complex flavors. And a variety of street foods are popular in Suriname, such as barbecued meats, fried snacks, and fresh fruit juices. Surinamese dishes influenced by European and Jewish settlers include chicken pasty (kippenpastei), ginger bear (gemberbier), rice and chicken oven stew (popido estella) and sponge cake (ingris buru) as well as plantain and bananas
.In the Javanese Surinamese tradition, you have popular dishes like telo, saoto (chicken soup with noodles and vegetables that often can be made with a plant-based broth), nasi, and bami. Nasi is delicious fried rice that is made with ketjap (a typical Indonesian condiment), ginger, pepper, and onionsMost Popular Suriname Dishes
Suriname’s history has had a significant impact on it’s cuisine, which has been influenced by African, Asian and European cuisines.
After slavery was abolished in the 19th century, servants from India and other parts of Asia were brought to Suriname to work on the plantations.
Surinamese cuisine is characterized by its use of fresh herbs and spices, as well as its bold and complex flavors. And a variety of street foods are popular in Suriname, such as barbecued meats, fried snacks, and fresh fruit juices. Surinamese dishes influenced by European and Jewish settlers include chicken pasty (kippenpastei), ginger bear (gemberbier), rice and chicken oven stew (popido estella) and sponge cake (ingris buru) as well as plantain and bananas
.In the Javanese Surinamese tradition, you have popular dishes like telo, saoto (chicken soup with noodles and vegetables that often can be made with a plant-based broth), nasi, and bami. Nasi is delicious fried rice that is made with ketjap (a typical Indonesian condiment), ginger, pepper, and onions more....

Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, with a particular emphasis on Mediterranean food from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other possible influences on the cuisine may result from immigration from countries such as Germany and Britain. The food is very similar to Argentine cuisine.
Traditional Food In Uruguay
Asado (barbecued meat) Uruguayans are all about the family, and one of their favourite dishes, the Asado, reflects this community spirit.
1. Chivito (beef sandwich) Source: Wikimedia Commons.
2. Churros with Dulce de Leche. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
3. Revuelto Gramajo (stir-fried potatoes)
4. Alfajores (cookie confection) more....

The most popular Venezuelan Foods are:

• Arepas.
• Pabellón Criollo. This is Venezuela's national dish.
• Tequeños.
• Hallaca. Hallacas consist of a corn dough wrapped in plantain, filled with a stuffing called "guiso" made with beef, olives, pork, capers and many vegetables and then cooked in boiling water.
• Cachapa.
• Perico.
• Tres Leches.
• Empanadas. Black bean and corn wonton appetizers

Chocolate mocha soufflé

Empanadas

Strawberry delight

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