Peanut Butter and Jelly
The “No Peanut Butter in Argentina” subtitle of this blog is meant to draw attention to this small detail of life in Argentina as emblematic of cultural divide: one of the most common comfort foods in the U.S. is peanut butter. Whether on toast, on a bagel, with jelly, with chocolate or by the spoonful, this is an extremely common topping for Americans, especially children, who grow up looking forward to PBJs for lunch. It’s so common, we call it PBJ. In Argentina, that concept does not exist.
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“No peanut butter in Argentina”, but a lot of Dulce de leche and it is just as dangerous as peanut butter.
Thanks for your comment BA Photo!
Ya, dulce de leche is a killer. Have you ever tried it with peanut butter? OMG!
After ten years in BA, friends know what is at the top of my shopping list to bring me. I don’t care if they bring Smucker’s Natural, Jif or Skippy–I use it when I want a PB&J sandwich!
I missed PB so much, I formed a facebook group to raise money to take a trip back to the states and fill up on peanut butter! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=91829476871&ref=ts
. . . You can get PB in the Barrio Chino, but it is not the same. .
. . also. . my thoughts on Dulce de Leche vs. Peanut Butter: http://veggiecarly.blogspot.com/2008/08/peanut-butter-vs-dulce-de-leche.html
Right now I’m coming back from Carlos Paz with 4 Argentine peanut butter jars which have almost nothing to envy from Jif or Peter Pan. They cost $ 9 pesos each in a local supermarket called Becerra. If any of you happen to be traveling through Cordoba, you’ll easily find some PB. I’m managing myself to make Disco (a country-wide supermarket company) get them to its Buenos Aires branch. They did already with some other national brands. I miss Oreos doublestuff, though.
The Carrefour supermarket in Acassusso carries Skippy peanut butter – unfortunately, not the chunky variety but the smooth one.
Just a quick note: I’m argentino, but lived in the US for years, and loved peanut butter, but only the basic, nothing added one: just peanuts and salt, organic or similar…well, here I get just the same! go to any Jumbo supermarket, and they have it as an arabic food ingredient, “pasta de mani” it’s just that, and is gooood….so anytime I want, I get 1-2 jars and last me a long time…(I’m the only one in my family that eats it…my kids love dulce de leche, no pbj for them…)
I ventured once to China Town for peanut butter in Baires. It wasn’t the real stuff. but it was close enough!
Thanks for the comment! Ahh the culture mystery of peanut butter…
Hi, Belgrano’s Chinatown in Falabella and Walmart is a very tasty DAMEMANI name
Best Regards