Tip #2: Food – The way to a Latina’s heart

One of the best conversational tools you can use with Latin women is: Food. Every culture is defined in part by it’s food. And Latin America is no different. Although the dishes and foods throughout Latin America have many similarities, each country and even each region within a country has it’s own specialties and even different names for what may be the same dishes. There’s a million things you can ask about the food from her country and region.

A conversation on food can lead to many places. Does she know how to cook? If she does, she might have to cook for you sometime. What’s her favorite dish from her country? Does she know any places that have good typical dishes from her country/region? Suggest a nice dinner at the places she mentions.

I know dinner dates have lost their glitter in the eyes of many. But dinner doesn’t always have to be in a restaurant. You can ask her to come over, go shopping together for all the ingredients, and help her make a typical dish from her country. Add a bottle of wine (or some other alcoholic beverage) and some music and it not only makes for a small little adventure into the super market and the kitchen, it makes for a great date.

There’s just something about eating together that creates intimacy. That intimacy gets even stronger when you’re both making the bread you’re going to break. If you think about it, most major world religions have some sort of a traditional ritual feast. Breaking bread together just brings people closer to each other.

I’m sure you’ve heard that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Latin women take this very seriously, but now you can use her stomach as a way to build rapport, setup great dates, and add some interesting topics into the conversation.

In most parts of Colombia, including Medellin, you’ll find two kinds of food, “comida rapida” meaning “fast food” like hot dogs (perros), and shish kebabs (chuzos). You also have the regular restaurants offering all types of local foods as well as international foods.

Whenever traveling you should follow my guidelines on how to eat and not get sick when traveling.

In Parque Lleras you’ll find all sorts of international food including sushi, mexican, and local food. Usually the vendors of fast food are small places, or food carts found on various street corners.

The food in Medellin is based on some core ingredients including beens, eggs, beef or pork, potatoes, plantains, and the famous “arepa”, a corn based bread similar to the Mexican tortilla.

Some of the most well known typical plates that you may want to try include the following:

Bandeja Paisa: Traditional Antioquia dish with beans, ground beef, egg, rice, plantain, chorizo sausage, pork cracklings, arepa and hogao (a sauce based on tomatoes and onions).:

Ajiaco (Soup): Ajiaco is a Colombian Potato soup. It typically contains pieces of chicken, large chunks of corn on the cob, two or three kinds of native potatoes, and guasca (Galinsoga parviflora), a weedy, aromatic herb that lends the dish part of its distinctive flavour.
The soup is typically served with heavy cream, capers and avocado, all mixed in just before eating in the proportions each individual prefers.:

Sancocho (Soup): Sancocho is probably the most famous of all Colombian soups and is a soup based on chicken, potatoes, and plantains. However many places offer sancocho de res (sancocho made with beef):

Mondongo (Soup): In Colombia sopa de mondongo is often eaten as the soup course of a traditional almuerzo. The soup in Colombia, is often made with chicken or beef stock, with a lot of cilantro. Many vegetables such as peas, carrots and onion are used to flavor the chicken or beef stock. Salt and pepper, along with corn, are also thrown into the soup for extra flavoring. The tripe used for this soup is varied. The most typical kind of tripe is beef tripe, but in several other regions across the nation, pork tripe and chicken or turkey tripes are also used in the soup:

Argentina is the second largest country in South America, and one of the most populous. Long a center for immigration, this mixture of different peoples and cultures has created a rich and unique Argentinean culture separate from the rest of Latin America. Although often overlooked in the media, Argentina is actually the birthplace of many world-famous cultural icons that many people will recognize. This article will list five unique thing about Argentina that you may not have been previously aware of.

1. Beef

Argentina has tradition of cattle ranches and cowboys (gauchos) much older than the United States. Raising about 55 million head of cattle, Argentina is the third largest exporter of beef in the world. Argentine beef is world-famous for its quality and flavor. Argentines have the largest consumption of red meat in the world.

Whereas many US ranches contain grain-fed cattle raised in feedlots, Argentine ranches are still largely grass-fed, free-range cattle roaming over the vast rolling pastures of the central Pampas and southern Patagonian plains. Many consider grass-fed, free-range cattle to be tastier and healthier, as free-range cattle are less likely to have hormone injections, get more exercise, contain less saturated fast, and more healthy omega 3 fatty acids which reduce cholesterol.

2. Asado

Argentina has its own, world-famous type of barbeque, known as asado. Asado combines the dry heat of grilling with the humid, slow-cooking method of smoking. The result is grilled, barbequed meat that is very tender and juicy. Many foods Americans consider to be Mexican actually originated in Argentina, including chorizo, empanadas, and Dulce de Leche. Finnally, chimichurri sauce (made of olive oil mixed with parsley, oregano, paprika, garlic, onion, pepper, and salt) is actually an Argentine creation, and is traditionally served with an asado barbeque.

3. Wine

Argentinean wine has become increasingly popular worldwide over the last twenty years. Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wine in the world, and has long been the single biggest producer outside of Europe. The province of Mendoza, Argentina’s primary wine producing region, is considered one of the eight wine capitals in the world. Argentinean wine also reflects Argentina’s diverse ethnic background. The grapes cultivated for wine in Argentina come from Spain, France, and Italy, among others places.

Due to the high altitude and low humidity of the prime Argentinean vineyards in the foothills of the Andes mountains, Argentinean grapevines rarely suffer the problems of insects, molds, fungi, and other grape vine diseases. Consequently, Argentinean vintners rarely use pesticides or herbicides, making Argentinean wine naturally organic and flavorful. Argentina is credited with the finest Malbec wine in the world.

4. The Tango

Almost everyone has heard of this slow, sensual ballroom dance, but many don’t realize it originated in Argentina. Specifically, it evolved in the ports, bars and brothels of Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina) in the late 19th century. Buenos Aires was a city of immigrants at the time, and the Tango, both the dance and the music, was a fusion of musical styles from Spain, Cube, Africa, Italy, Eastern Europe, and indigenous Argentinean folk music.

This slow, sorrowful, and sexual music and dance spread from the working class slums to the rest of Argentinean society by the turn of the 20th century. In the 1920s, it exploded on the international scene and became wildly popular in Europe and the United States. Like Jazz, the Tango craze flourished until displaced by Rock & Roll in the 1950. In 2009, UNESCO declared the Tango to be part of the world’s “intangible cultural heritage.”

Violin, piano, guitar, flute and bandoneon, sometimes guitar and clarinet

5. Evita

For the average person, the first thing they associate with Argentia is the stage and movie musical “Evita,” a rags-to-riches story about Eva Perón. Eva, nicknamed “Evita” by an adoring public, was the wife of the popular Argentinean President Juan Perón, who ruled Argentina in the 1940s and 50s. Evita’s massive popularity among Argentineans came from the charity foundation she set up to assist the poor and working classes. She also advocated women’s right. The story of Evita hit new levels of popularity in the 1990s, when a movie version of the musical was released starring Madonna in the lead role of Eva Perón,