Try the World: Experience the International Flavors of Argentina in your Kitchen

The South American country of Argentina has been on my list of places to visit ever since I saw the famous movie Evita, which focuses on the life of the former first lady of Argentina, Eva Perón.

Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of visiting Argentina yet, but when I came across the company Try the World, which creates specially curated boxes that allow people to discover the world through food, I jumped at the opportunity to try their Argentina box and discover some of Argentina’s culinary culture.

As a person who is passionate about both traveling the world and writing about food that I eat around the world, I was extremely excited to the Argentina box and to learn a little bit about Argentinian cuisine.

Try the World’s Argentina box was curated by Buenos Aires native Chef Adolfo Suaya, who created this box to provide a small a glimpse into Argentina’s food culture.

When my Argentinian box first arrived to my house, I was incredibly excited to taste all of the delicious goodies that the box had to offer. As soon as I took off the lid, I discovered so many wonderful things inside of the box inside including:

• Coco & Coco Bake Love Koo! Butter Cookies
• Dulce de Leche by Dona Magdalena
• Three teas by Chamana and Inti Zen
• Smoked Chimichurri by Vanoli
• Red Fruits, Honey, and Malbec Wine Sauce by Pampa Gourmet
• Green Olive Paste by MQA Gourmet
• Dulce de Membrillo (Quince Paste) by Dulcor
• A Culture Guide to Argentina

After flipping through the culture guide which highlighted different parts of Argentinian culture including the country’s love for tango, its passion for fútbol, and its devotion to asado (barbecue), it was time to dig into the food.

Bake Love Koo! Butter Cookies

The very first thing that I tried from the box were the Coco & Coco Bake Love Koo! Butter Cookies. These round little morsels of deliciousness had a slight crunch to them and melted like butter as soon as I placed them in my mouth. They were definitely a treat and my family loved them so much that they were gone the day after I opened them.

Beef Short-ribs with Vanoli Chimichurri Ahumado

A couple of nights after I opened the box, I decided to use the chimichurri ahumado (smoked chimichurri) to make some beef short-ribs for a potluck that I was attending and needless to say, the short-ribs were a big hit!

The combination of parsley, garlic, oregano, red pepper, and olive oil that make up the chimichurri were the perfect compliment to the meat. Typically the chimichurri sauce is used as a dip for meat, but I decided to let the meat soak up the flavor of the sauce by letting it marinate for a couple of hours before baking them (unfortunately I did not have an indoor grill to gill my meat in the true Argentinian style, which I am sure would have enhanced the flavor even more).

Chamana and Inti Zen teas

A couple of days after making the short-ribs, I headed to another friend’s house to try out the rest of what the box had to offer. I started by taking the red fruits, honey, and malbec wine sauce out of the box and slathered it onto some chicken wings before placing them in the oven to bake.

While the chicken was baking, we each decided to have a cup of the Argentinian Chamana and Inti Zen teas. I drank the Don Juan dulce de leche and red fruits tea, while my friend drank the tea with mango, papaya, and peach. I found my tea to be delicious, fragrant, and very relaxing. My friend, who is not a very big tea lover also found her tea to be very enjoyable.

Next, I moved on to sampling some of the spreads. I started by taking the Dulce de Membrillo and spread it across a slice of Italian bread. The texture and taste of the membrillo reminded me of fruit jam and I really enjoyed it.

I then moved on to the Green Olive Paste. Generally, the only time that I enjoy the taste of olives is in olive oil, so I was unsure how I was going to feel about the paste. The paste tasted like olives straight from an olive branch. While I was not a huge fan of the spread myself, my friend loved it and was eager to take it off of my hands.

Chicken wings baked in Memories of Patagonia sauce

Finally, after about a half hour, the chicken wings finished baking and it was time to chow down on the main part of the meal. Malbec is one of my favorite red wines and I love fruit, so I was excited to see how this sauce (which is typically recommended to use as a flavoring on lamb, pork, and turkey) would taste on chicken. I found the wings to be quite flavorful and the richness of the fruit and wine came through perfectly, however, I found that on chicken, a little salt needed to be added. My friend told me that if I had used the sauce on pork, which tends to be a saltier meat, the flavor would have been just right.

Overall, I really enjoyed sampling all of the products in the specially curated Argentina box and I really cannot wait to get back to South America to visit the country of Argentina!

About: Try The World

Try the World collaborates with notable chefs from around the world to create special boxes based on different destinations. Their products come from small, family-owned companies that follow artisanal methods of production, which helps to make their product offerings very unique. In addition to the food products, each box comes with a culture guide that includes the information about each product, a couple of recipes to make with the items inside of the box, and tips to best experience the country’s culinary culture.

One amazing thing that you can do once you receive your Argentina box is to head over to the Try the World blog where you can find helpful tips and recipes on how to use the products in the box and Argentinian cultural information beyond the box.

Boxes start at $33 each and are shipped out every two months. Make sure to check the Try The World website for discounts and promotions.

Disclaimer: Try the World provided me with a complimentary Argentina box for review, a complimentary Holiday box for review, and also a complimentary box for one lucky reader to have as a prize in my 2015 Holiday Gift Guide + Giveaway! As always on this site, all opinions are my own.