It all started with the concept of bringing together chefs, farmers, cheesemakers, beer brewers, bakers, and many more to the same table. However, since they couldn’t find a table that would fit them all comfortably, they started this food festival called Feria Masticar. In it’s fifth year, Feria Masticar boasted its biggest numbers yet at the heart of Palermo, in a place called El Dorrego. Their tagline loosely translates to ‘Healthy body=Happy heart,’ and here, they take pride in the reunion between the urban chef and the rural geniuses we like to call farmers.

We could literally smell the festival at least from a mile away and were really surprised by the crowd that we found when we reached our destination. Masticar had a very lively atmosphere and everywhere we turned, we saw people holding food that almost looked like pieces of art yet delicious enough to inhale. Since we had waited to have lunch at the festival, we began scouting out our choices. There was a really long line at el Choribondi de La Cabrera (a food truck) so decided to have their signature ‘bife de chorizo’ and I’m happy to report that it was the best one I’ve ever tasted. For the dessert lovers, there were countless of stands filled with cookies, brownies and scones. We had a dulce de leche brownie from Sugar and Spice which was unlike any brownie I had ever tried.

This family-friendly event provided me the chance to see that there is a really big foodie community in Buenos Aires, much like the one in my home city, Austin, Texas. When I came to Argentina, I came with the misconception that all they eat is meat. I had no idea that their cuisine was so diverse and that chefs were dedicated to join the clean food movement. I saw people walking around with everything from craft beer to aprons and we saw stands dedicated to the discussion of wine and cooking techniques. With the growth of Masticar and other food festivals in Buenos Aires, I would not be surprised if this became a destination event in the coming years.