Cooking South America

This a very hearty soup with a nice intense flavor. In Argentina they call beans porotos, and kidney beans are called porotos colorados. This is also good with black beans or limas, which are called porotos de manteca, or butter beans . Argentines don't eat many beans, for two reasons - they are associated with the indigenous peoples and poverty, and also because of that "musical fruit" thing. We know that the more frequently you eat beans the less musical you get, and beans are slowly becoming more "sophisticated" here.   For the stock: 100 - 200 g. bacon  Panceta salada (or ahumada ), chopped in small pieces 1 lb. - Kidney beans cooked, with the cooking liquid (see below) 1 - Large yellow onion, chopped 2 - cloves garlic, chopped (more to taste) 2 - stalks celery with plenty of leaves, chopped 2 - fresh jalapenos, minced, more to taste 1 T - ground cumin 1 T - oregano plenty of black pepper 1 Can chopped tomatoes Boiling water Soup Ingredients 1.5 lb boilin...

This is about Texas chili and how you can make it in Argentina. For anything containing turkey or noodles, for meatless dishes, or anything white in color, go somewhere else. I can't help you. Argentina is a great place for meat; it is cheap and good. They also make outstanding sausage, cold cuts like salami and mortadella , and prosciutto ( jamon crudo ). The bacon and smoked pork loin is some of the best I have ever had anywhere. At first it may seem a little too smoky, but that is because it is really smoked over wood, not injected with liquid smoke as is too often the case in the US. The first step in making chili is to select the meat. I like the Argentine cut called "roast beef". It is cheap, with some fat but not too much, and not too many tendons. Using expensive meat would miss the point of chili, and expensive cuts would not stand up to the long cooking time. Get at least a couple of kilos. You should never use ground beef in chili, ever. Some people who call th...