The food of the Northwest is older than Argentina: maize, potatoes, quinoa, peppers and goat, cooked the way they were cooked before the Spanish arrived, and washed down today with the high-altitude wines of the Calchaquí valleys. This journey follows that thread from the market of Salta to a goat farm, a vineyard kitchen, a weavers' village and an Andean chef's table in Tilcara, with the great landscapes of the region as the road between meals.
Day 1 · Salta
Highlight · True Salta empanadas and a glass of Cafayate wine in an old colonial house.
A walk through the most traditional corners of Salta "la Linda" begins at the fruit and vegetable market, among avocados, grains, peppers, gourds and dozens of potatoes. Then true Salta empanadas in an old colonial house, with a glass of wine from Cafayate. The evening goes either to traditional dishes from a local kitchen, tamales, humitas and goat casserole, or to a restaurant that turns Andean ingredients into haute cuisine.
Night · Salta
Day 2 · Through the Quebrada de las Conchas to Cafayate
Highlight · Goat cheese cured with Malbec, and a rare goat's-milk dulce de leche, at a family farm in Talapampa.
Out across the farmland of the Lerma valley and into the red, lunar landscape of the Quebrada de las Conchas. At Talapampa, a family goat farm shows the cheeses that exist only in this valley: cured with Malbec, fresh with herbs, ricotta, and a rare dulce de leche made from goat's milk. The night is among the vineyards outside Cafayate.
Night · Cafayate
Day 3 · Cafayate
Highlight · The secret of the empanada salteña, then dusk among the rocks of the gorge above the dunes.
A morning in the vines and the cellar with a winemaker, learning the grapes of the valley, from the smooth, fruity Torrontés to the Malbec-Cabernet blends. The cooking lesson that follows unlocks the secret of the empanada salteña, and the tasting pairs what was cooked with the wines and cheeses of the region. At dusk, a short walk among the rock formations of the gorge, with the valley and its dunes below, and a stroll through town.
Night · Cafayate
Day 4 · Ruta 40 to Molinos and Cachi
Highlight · A picnic of northern cheeses, salami and wine among the tilted blades of the Quebrada de las Flechas.
North along the Ruta 40 through small colonial villages. In the Quebrada de las Flechas, a walk among the tilted rock blades and a picnic of northern cheeses, salami, bread and wine. Molinos brings a small farm and a centre of weavers with their old looms; from Seclantás, the road into Colte visits the craftsmen who still make ponchos and blankets by hand. Between March and May the fields along the way turn red with peppers drying inside their adobe walls.
Night · Cachi
Day 5 · Over Los Cardones to Purmamarca
Highlight · The Valle Encantado, then the adobe villages of the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Across the Los Cardones national park and past the Valle Encantado, down to Salta around noon for lunch in the city, and on north into the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a World Heritage site, through villages of Andean adobe architecture. The evening in Purmamarca is free, with a fusion restaurant that pairs local flavours with international technique.
Night · Purmamarca
Day 6 · An Andean kitchen in Tilcara
Highlight · Tamales de charqui with dried Andean maize, made the traditional way in a Tilcara kitchen.
In Tilcara, a chef who has made Andean food her life's work opens her kitchen for a class on the products of the region, their uses and the customs that survive around them. The dish is tamales de charqui with dried Andean maize, made the traditional way, followed by a lunch of mankakanca, hajchalocro and chairo de tunta. Back in Purmamarca, the evening craft market on the square.
Night · Purmamarca
Day 7 · Purmamarca to Salta
Highlight · A last look at the Quebrada on the drive down to Salta.
The drive back down the Quebrada to Salta and its airport.
