#1 Taste the Fine-Cut of Beef

Argentines have perfected grilling beef, instilling a smoky, salty outer layer to their delectable steaks. While beef is the backbone of Argentina's daily diet, there are plenty of other tasty treats awaiting you in the world's eighth-largest country. Besides taking inspiration from Italian and Spanish migrants, Argentina's dishes also feature ingredients from the Andean northwest as well as Patagonia in the south.
Whether you’re dining on prime cuts in a swanky Buenos Aires parrilla or digging into a sizzling tabletop grill of chewy, flavorful, close-to-the-bone cuts in a family-style eatery, you’re bound to get your fill of Argentina’s most famous food. Here is a guide to some prime cuts:

• bife de chorizo – sirloin; a thick, juicy and popular cut
• bife de costilla – T-bone; a cut close to the bone; also called chuleta
• bife de lomo – tenderloin; a thinly cut, more tender piece
• cuadril – rump steak; often a thin cut
• ojo de bife – ribeye; a choice smaller morsel
• tira de asado – shortribs; thin strips of ribs and meat sliced crosswise
• vacío – flank steak; textured and chewy, but very tasty

#2 Try Street Food - Empanadas

Argentina's favourite street food, another gift from the Moors to the Spanish and finally, to the Argentineans, where this hot, cheap and portable meal was popular amongst working classes. These stuffed dough pockets are similar to Puerto Rico's empanadilla or a Cornish pasty. Like a South American pasty, empanadas are deep-fried or baked, then filled with sweet and savoury stuffing, depending on the province. Dessert empanadas are commonly packed with quince jam, sweet potato paste, or dulce de leche, and sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar or sweet raisins, as is typical in Cordoba. Savoury empanadas hug stewed and spiced ground beef, chicken, goat meat, cheese and/or vegetables, with the markings on the pastry fold identifying the treasures inside. You shouldn’t miss it!

#3 Wine Tasting Around Mendoza

A short three hours from San Juan is Argentina’s celebrated wine country of Mendoza. Mendoza city is a lively center set on the eastern side of gorgeous Mount Aconcagua, the Western Hemisphere’s tallest summit. With over 1000 lush vineyards in Mendoza, it’s easy to imagine the hundreds of options for tours and tastings (most wine bodegas are friendly, family-run operations). Oenophiles from around the globe flock to Mendoza for the rich offering of incredible award-winning blends; most famously Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec varieties. 
With so much fantastic wine on offer, it's tempting just to pull up a bar stool and work your way through it, but getting out there and seeing how the grapes are grown and processed is almost as enjoyable as sampling the finished product. The best news is that wine tasting in Argentina isn't just for wine snobs - there's a tour to meet every budget, from DIY bike tours for backpackers to tasting and accommodation packages at exclusives wineries. 

#4 Drink like a local - Mate

Pronounced (MAH-tay) is probably the most popular beverage in Argentina. Although most first-time mate drinkers can barely choke the stuff down, this bitter, grassy tea is an important social bonding experience in Argentina. Argentines fill it back up with water before passing it to another person and the drink makes its way around the group in this fashion.

Mate is a naturally caffeinated, bitter assembly of dried herbs steeped into hot water. Mate is such a significant feature of Argentine culture that it must be drunk from a specific cup: a special gourd – the hard exterior of a hollowed-out plant such as the butternut squash – and drunk through a metal straw known as a bombilla (bomb-BEE-sha).

Interested to try authentic Argentina’s delicacies? Check out these affordable Argentina Travel packages here!