“Sabado Noche, Puchero Criollo,” read the sign on the door of La Olla de Felix, a popular bistro in Recoleta, an upscale district of Buenos Aires. This meant that on Saturday night, owner/chef Felix Rueda would make puchero, which is Argentina’s version of Spain’s cocido, France’s pot au feu and New England’s boiled dinner.
Rueda offers this traditional dish four times a year, on national holidays. Saturday night was the closest he could get to May 25, the anniversary of the day in 1810 when the criollos (Creoles) in Buenos Aires unseated the Spanish viceroy and established their own government.
Rueda was executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton in Paris for many years before returning to his native Argentina. Therefore, his puchero is no ordinary meal in a pot. The tureen that came to each table contained a beautifully constructed arrangement of meats and vegetables. And it was only part of a multi-course meal.
Dinner started with pate and bread, then moved on to marrow bones in broth. Each tureen was heaped with chunks of beef and pancetta, spicy red chorizo, dark morcilla (blood sausage) that was almost too rich to eat and a colorful display of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, corn, and both white and sweet potatoes.
Another dish held white beans and garbanzos that had been cooked in the broth. And a condiment tray included tomato-based salsa criolla as well as mustard. After so much food, it was a struggle to eat the slices of pale cheese and quince paste brought out for dessert.
The next opportunity to taste Rueda’s puchero will be a Saturday close to July 9, the day Argentina was granted independence from Spain in 1816. If you are in Buenos Aires at that time, visit La Olla de Felix at Juncal 1693 in Recoleta, or call 4811-2873 to make a reservation.
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