Empanadas and Alfajores Cooking Class

Argentine food is about more than steak, and the quickest way into its home cooking is through the empanada. These baked or fried pastries, filled with spiced beef, chicken, ham and cheese, onion and cheese, or sweetcorn in a creamy humita, are eaten everywhere in Argentina, from roadside stalls to family parties, and every province argues that its version is the best: juicy hand-cut beef with cumin and olives in Salta and Tucumán, sweeter fillings elsewhere, and the porteño habit of ordering a dozen of mixed flavours to share. Each filling is identified by the pattern of its seal, so learning the repulgue, the rope-like pleat that closes the pastry, is a small rite of passage. Alfajores are the other national obsession: two soft, crumbly biscuits, often made with cornflour, sandwiched with dulce de leche, the thick caramelised milk that Argentines put on almost everything, and rolled in coconut or dipped in chocolate. This small-group class, sold through Tiqets, teaches both in about two hours, with a local cook guiding you through making the dough, preparing fillings, folding and sealing empanadas and assembling alfajores, and you eat what you make at the end. Classes like this are as much about conversation as cooking, and they are a relaxed way to ask the questions every visitor has: how to order at a parrilla, which cuts to choose, why dinner starts so late, how mate is shared and why it is rude to say thank you until you have had enough. It suits all ages and makes a good activity for a rainy day or a first afternoon, when you are still adjusting to the city's late hours.

What to expect: the class lasts about two hours in a small group, with the meeting point and start time confirmed when you book. You will usually make the dough or work with prepared dough, cook a traditional filling, practise the repulgue, and bake or fry your empanadas, then fill and finish alfajores with dulce de leche, eating the results at the end, often with a glass of wine or a soft drink. Dietary needs, such as vegetarian fillings, are usually easy to accommodate if you mention them in advance. At around fifty dollars, it is one of the best-value experiences in the city, and recipes are typically shared so you can try them at home. The same supplier also offers a shorter empanadas-only class.

Understanding the asado: the class is a good primer for the biggest food experience in Argentina, the parrilla, or grill restaurant. Argentine beef is cooked slowly over wood or charcoal embers rather than flames, and a classic meal moves from provoleta, grilled provolone cheese, and achuras, offal such as chorizo, morcilla blood sausage and sweetbreads, to the cuts: bife de chorizo, the thick sirloin; ojo de bife, ribeye; entraña, skirt steak; vacío, flank; and tira de asado, short ribs cut across the bone. Order it a punto for medium, and do not expect sauces beyond chimichurri and salsa criolla. Prices at parrillas range from inexpensive neighbourhood grills to celebrated steakhouses in Palermo where tables are booked weeks ahead.

Make it a food day: take the class in the early afternoon, then explore a neighbourhood food scene. In Palermo, that means cafés, bakeries with medialunas and facturas, ice-cream shops (Argentine helado, of Italian heritage, is superb; try dulce de leche flavour) and cocktail bars before a late parrilla dinner. In San Telmo, the Mercado de San Telmo is the place to graze. If you prefer a guided tasting around a neighbourhood, Tiqets also lists a guided food tour of Palermo Soho, though its menu leans toward other Latin American cuisines rather than Argentine classics, so for steak and empanadas, this class and a parrilla dinner are the better pairing.