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Locro is one of those dishes that inspires rivalries and stirs intense family pride. It seems there are countless versions of this hearty Argentine stew from the northwestern provinces, and of course, any recipe handed down from the venerable abuela is considered a culinary masterpiece. Period.

Faced with a dizzying array of recipes that had excellent lineage but invariably involved some objectionable ingredient like tripe (sorry, Grandma), I did the most sensible thing I could think of—I took the abuela out of the equation.

I eventually settled on a recipe by Dan Perlman, an American chef and food writer living in Buenos Aires.

Creole locro is one of the most traditional dishes of Argentine cuisine.

How to prepare the locro.

As Dan explains on his food blog SaltShaker, he developed this locro recipe after researching numerous other recipes, talking with Argentine home cooks, and tinkering a bit in the kitchen. Though the preparation is a bit labor intensive, the result is a rich stew that's packed with flavor and very satisfying.

So, cozy up with a big bowl of locro on a cold day, and enjoy this recipe that would surely make any Argentine grandmother proud!

The recipe, step by step.

Ingredients.

for 6 persons

1 cup dried white corn [hominy]
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2- ¼" thick slices of smoked pancetta or slab bacon, cubed
2 chorizos colorados or other slightly spicy sausage, sliced
2- 1" thick pieces of osso buco [beef shanks], or similar cut
2 ears of fresh yellow sweet corn, cut the kernels off the cobs
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
2 bay leaves
salt to taste
½ tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
1 ½ c. butternut squash, peeled and diced small
1 ½ c. yams, peeled and diced small
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced small
2 plum tomatoes, cut in small wedges
chopped green onion for garnish [optional]
chili oil [see directions]

Read also: How to make homemade chipá: the best cheese bread recipe step by step.

Preparation and Cooking.

Soak the hominy in 2 cups of water overnight (a minimum of 12 hours).
The next day, prepare the chili oil in advance by soaking a teaspoon of ají molido (or crushed red pepper flakes) in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 hours.
Place the onions, garlic, pancetta, chorizo, and osso buco in a large stewpot.
Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Add the fresh yellow corn, cumin, paprika, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Continue to cook, stirring regularly, for roughly 10 minutes.
Add the soaked hominy, including the soaking water.
Add hot water to the pot to about 2 inches above the level of the ingredients.
Add the remaining vegetables, stir, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring every 15-20 minutes, for at least 2 hours.
At this point, uncover the pot and remove the bay leaves. Remove the pieces of osso buco and discard the bones.
Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, and then return it to the pot.
Continue to stir over low heat, and using the back of a wide spoon or spatula, press the ingredients up against the sides of the pot so that the starchy vegetables and tomato break down into the soup (the corn and meat will resist being mashed).
As you continue to stir, mash, and cook, the soup should gradually thicken.
Continue until the locro reaches the rich consistency of a stew.
Add salt to taste.
Serve in bowls, and garnish with green onions and a touch of chili oil.

Buenos Aires is one of the cultural capitals of South America, so it is no wonder it is full of amazing art museums.

These mighty institutions are frequented by locals and tourists alike, and host some of the most important exhibitions in Latin America.

A famous Argentine artwork by Antonio Berni

Buenos Aires is synonymous with art.

The cultural mix of European and Latin influences has inspired numerous artists to build their own style.

Dozens of museums and art galleries display the work of new and renowned exponents; however, many talents present their works in outdoor spaces, such as streets and parks.

MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires Malba).

The MALBA, or the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art, is perhaps the most famous contemporary art museum in the whole country.

Considered on a par with foreign institutions in New York and London, the MALBA’s permanent collection and temporary exhibitions are housed in a slick, modern gallery space, and in the recent past, works by Jeff Koons as well as exhibitions showcasing works by famous Mexican artists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros have graced the halls of the museum.

Culture vultures at the MALBA

They have a huge permanent collection featuring works by many of the art world’s most lauded masters dating back centuries. It has one of the largest collections of art in Latin America, with over 12,000 pieces in the permanent collection.

The museum is notable for its important European art collection from the 19th century, as well as its large collection of works by Argentine artists. Admission is free of charge so there is no excuse not to go!.

Buenos Aires’ Fine Arts Museum.

Facade of the National Museum of Fine Arts

Buenos Aires’ Fine Arts Museum is another important institution in the Argentine capital.

They have a huge permanent collection featuring works by many of the art world’s most lauded masters dating back centuries. It has one of the largest collections of art in Latin America, with over 12,000 pieces in the permanent collection.

Read also: The Museum of Vine and Wine in Cafayate Valley Calchaquíes gives a different attraction.

The museum is notable for its important European art collection from the 19th century, as well as its large collection of works by Argentine artists. Admission is free of charge so there is no excuse not to go!.

Fortabat Collection.

The AMALITA Collection. The Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection is a private non-profit institution, open to the public, with a heritage of approximately 250 works.

The building that contains the collection is located next to the northeast end of Dock 4, at Calle Olga Cossettini 141. It was designed by the Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, on almost 7000 m² of total area. It has 4 levels, two large rooms, an Auditorium and a cafeteria.

The main gallery consists of a space that occupies an entire floor of the building, covered by an arched ceiling made of glass and steel, which goes from the upper level to the ground level. The curved steel ribs that shape the roof rise from ground level, ending 15m. higher, leaning on reinforced concrete that runs the length of the construction.

The entrance of light inside the galleries is controlled by a system of fifteen movable parasols, controlled by computers, that regulate the sunlight that enters and are mounted on the exterior of the glass vault. Both the internal structure and the external cladding are made of aluminum.

MACBA.

Today, the museum includes works of the most representative tendencies of international geometry.

Established by the Foundation Aldo Rubino in 2012, based on his collection of contemporary art from Argentina and other countries, specialized in geometric abstraction.

The building with glass façade was designed by the architecture studio Vila Sebastián Arquitectos. The total surface destined to the activities of the museum amounts to 1,600 sqm, with 5 floors connected through a ramp.

Eduardo Sivori Plastic Arts Museum.

Inaugurated in 1938, the Museo de Artes Plásticas Eduardo Sívori is dedicated to Argentine art.

For the original peoples, rock art was a tool for communication, a way to transfer ideas, experiences and convictions, a way to reaffirm their own and to participate in other groups of that message put in the immensity of the landscape with the intention aware, that they will last in physical space and time.

In turn, it was a way of intervening territorially, especially when we understand the nomadic condition of its producers, making reference to its inter-related actions related to space: in territorial exploration, in the search for material resources and in ritualization in The geographical spaces.

Therefore, the human figure in rock art cannot be interpreted as an illustrative representation, it is much more than that. The worldview of the South American native peoples includes animated beings and inanimate elements, all of them forming part of an integrated whole that carries the character of sacred.

The human being was understood within that whole.

The representation of human figures in the rock art of the Cuyo region.

The human being was understood within that whole. That sacredness was rooted in the naturalistic and mystical thinking of the people that also hierarchized and deeply respected the characters of power within the community.

This hierarchy is evident in all rock art. Thus, certain human figures have the schematic simplicity and smaller sizes compared to those that show the attributes of power, differing both in the set.

Read also: The lonely Pucará de Hualco, a city of stone, more than a thousand years old.

But whatever its appearance, the human figure, in rock art, is always based on an idea conceived by the naturalistic thinking of the original peoples who considered those of their kind a part in nature and not the axis of the system; which is the most widespread conception in our western and contemporary thinking.

Cuyana region.

In Mendoza, they are chronologically attributed to the period between 400 and 600 years and are culturally associated with the Ovalle style of the Valley of Enchantment in Chile and the culture of El Molle (300 BC-700 AD). This, at later times, would be associated with the Aguada income and would result from an incorporation given by farming groups in the area, which allows us to propose a temporary projection until 900.

The rock manifestations have received different interpretations, predominantly those that emphasize the role associated with shamanic practices. In Mendoza, within the anthropic manifestations, those that refer to heads and mascariforms stand out, which by stylistic association allowed them to be linked culturally and chronologically, but that at the interpretative level led to postulate the representation of experiential experiences of ceremonies where the human head stood out as the center of power and possessor of special forces.

These images would be enhanced as a result of experiences derived from the use of hallucinogenic substances, which, by altering the senses, would favor images in a trance state.

Human figure: hierarchical attributes.

Representation of the human figure.

The human figure is more frequent in the north of the region. In almost all cases they are recorded although we also see it painted, as in the peach eaves in San Rafael.

The representation of some parts of the body is very frequent. In Malargüe the body appears but without head or heads without the body and also the imprint of the human foot.

Other figures move away from a realism and become a different scheme in which the human figure is transformed into a symbolic element, for example the drawing of the head with upper and lower limbs - without the torso - with appendages that start from the same in radial form or with ornamentations in the superior part, as it is the case of the paintings of Los Morrillos and in the Colorados of San Juan and Tundunqueral, in the north of Mendoza.

With variants, the head alone is presented with cephalic attributes or the head with ornamentations and the lower limbs (Tundunqueral, Mendoza and Los Colorados, San Juan). These designs were linked to the tiaras or mascariform heads of the Northern Chilean Boy.

Frequently the characters in rock art are accompanied by birds, felines, snakes and other animals that occupy primary places in the graphic set makes us think that they played an important role in their lives and were part of their rituals. The characters are also seen carrying camelids on a rope, or their stumps or pregnant females, which shows their status as hunter gatherers and the preponderance of these animals in obtaining resources.

The rock, in many cases, is part of the composition and the landscape participates as the setting for the unifying mother earth of "everything." This can be seen in some creations in which engraving and support make up the design, as is the case of the mascariform figure of Painted Stones in San Juan in which the oval shape of rock constitutes the contour of the mascariform.

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