Vegetarian recipes from Argentina

Meatless Argentina draws on two traditions that overlap: maize and squash from the Andes, and the wheat, eggs and cheese brought by Italian and Spanish immigration. Freshly grated maize gives humita, a mix of kernels, onion and cheese cooked in the husks of the cob. Wheat dough serves as a container everywhere: a thin disc for spinach empanadas, a sheet for tarta pascualina filled with chard, ricotta and whole eggs set into the filling. The seasoning stays restrained: onion, spring onion, cumin, sweet paprika, oregano.

The logic of a meal is late shared eating around a single dish that gets portioned out. Vegetarian locro is the clearest case: white maize and beans soaked overnight, squash that breaks down and thickens the broth, several hours of cooking, served with an onion and paprika sauce poured over the top. It is eaten on fixed dates, 25 May and 9 July. Frying belongs with maté rather than with the meal: tortas fritas, a plain dough of flour and salted water, are made on rainy days.