Lado Bueno

Literally, the good side. And is it ever good....We ate this ice cream as the final course at an asado at Omar's house. The ice cream was fantabulous. We must have ordered at least a kilo and a half for eight people. I remember we had lemon sorbet, because we mixed it with champagne and slurped it up with spoons. We also had sambayón, which is a sweet, caramel-coloured ice cream laced with alcohol that kind of tastes like rompope, which itself kind of tastes like eggnog. I can't remember the rest of the flavours. Chalk it up to the several glasses of wine that I consumed that night.

Top picture: Lado Bueno ice cream
Middle picture: Pablo helping himself to a heaping serving
Bottom picture: Jacob polishing off a half-kilo of ice cream

Cultural notes:

Asado: a typical Argentine bbq of grilling meat over glowing carbon, usually in a brick oven. Carnivores in the know swear that it makes the meat taste better. (I prefer grilled veggies.) However, an asado is more than just bbq; it's an excuse for friends to get together, tell jokes and drink copious amounts of wine and beer into the wee hours of the morning, play foosball (where available) and eat more than they should. Traditional food usually consists of grilled and bbq'ed provoleta cheese, shredded lettuce, onion and tomato salad, and a side or two of cow. Dessert (if any) is ice cream ordered from the neighbourhood joint (free delivery!).

House: most porteños live in apartments, and it's hard to have an asado on the balcony of an apartment. The best way to experience an asado is to make friends with an Argentine who has a parilla, a terrace, a patio, and a house in the suburbs. See above and below.

Omar: standard-issue Argentine, skilled in the use of bbq-related tools. (Every asado comes with one of these, and with "these" I refer to both the man and the tools.) Asador par excellance who has promised me a bbq of grilled fish at some point this summer. He has recently become an associate in ice cream-related crime, owing to the fact that his job as a graphic designer at a local publishing house doesn't keep him busy enough. (Un asador excelente quien me prometió que me iba a hacer un asado de pescado en algún momento este verano. Su trabajo de día no lo mantiene muy ocupado, por lo cual está ayundandome lograr mi meta de conocer cada heladería en la ciudad de Buenos Aires.)