Bonnie Tucker / FST
Fed up with the perpetual diet culture that has been fed us over the years by slimness gurus, gymnasiums, and manufacturers of food substitutes and home gym equipment, who are also advertisers in media that publish kilos of articles that showcase anorexic fashion models, promote body sculpting and stress how bad it is to be fat?
Most of us feel like stepping out of the box and sitting down to enjoy something sweet at least once or twice a year, but fine tea pastries do not form part of the Argentine culinary tradition, which is rooted in proteins and decrees dulce de leche (milk jam) for all the rest. In most cases, sweet tooth fantasies have to make do with the medialunas (croissants) that accompany the morning “coffee with milk,” and an unimaginative flan (crème caramel), fruit salad or ice cream served after a heavy pasta- or beef-centered meal. Those who want the real thing in pastries have to find a tea room where they will be served the delicate infusion of their choice, accompanied by small portions of fresh-baked pies and cakes whose sole mission is to delight the diner with their combinations of flavor, texture, color and decoration.
This sort of pastries has its place of honor in the lounge of the Caesar Park Buenos Aires, renowned for the refinement and variety of the tarts and cakes created by Beatriz Chómnalez (who by the way is not overweight). An Argentine-born master chef specialized in French cuisine, as well as a pastry chef, Beatriz is a product of Parisian cooking schools who has long taught her trade in Buenos Aires. She changes her pastry menu twice a year, inventing at least 20 new items each time so that people with a sweet tooth will keep coming back for more at tea time in the hotel lounge.
Her team at the hotel excels at creamy cold French marquises and frothy, colorful mousses, as well as pies named after historical characters and a deconstructed Opera cake. Potential rebels against the perpetual diet culture are also pleased by the fact that 14 of the creations on the tea list can also be bought as intact cakes or pies in the hotel and taken home.PHOTO CREDITS: Cream cheese tart with grapefruit slices. “Medicis” dacquoise. Courtesy Caesar Park Buenos Aires.