Buenos Aires in coffee

After living in Argentina for a long time, many people will inevitably become interested in cafes. When you get up in the morning, sit in an old coffee shop with mottled walls covered with old movie posters, order an Italian latte and turn over a few pages of newspapers, the day really begins.

Buenos Aires, the romantic capital of South America. Like many European cities, there are cafes all over the streets. Some ancient cafes have a history of a hundred years, following the tradition of hand-grinding and brewing, standing like an island in the torrent of time, adhering to the style of the city.

In this immigrant country, Italians and Hispanics are the majority. Two hundred years ago, their ancestors left home with dreams to come to the cloth market, a chaotic, busy, desolate but vibrant place. After a day of fighting for a living, they gathered in the cafe on the street corner to comfort each other and ease their nostalgia.

Kaarina Laguerre, of Hispanic descent, whose parents emigrated at the age of five, followed his father to the Black Cat Cafe on Corentes Street when he was very young. Cold soda, milk foam coffee, golden crisp horns, and her father's smile in the morning light are still her best childhood memories.

Today, Laguerre is 89 years old, and the time-honored house full of memories is still in operation. Every morning, after grooming her eyebrows, painting her lips and dressing her makeup, she would walk into the cafe as if she attended a church service and relive the good old days in a slow drink. She has kept this habit for 30 years.

Argentines do like to go to cafes, even if they are just in a daze. With regard to this deep-rooted cultural habit, Analia Alvarez, Argentina's national treasure coffee tasting expert, explained: "We Argentines do not really like coffee, but more out of a cultural habit inherited from their parents." or an emotional dependence. "

For a long time, cafes have been an important social link in Argentine society, maintaining relationships between people, big or small, close or unfamiliar. "have a cup of coffee together" is the most commonly used social term here. It expresses a kind of kindness to approach actively. A lucrative business opportunity, a marriage you meet for the first time, or a misunderstanding between friends that needs to be resolved can all be hidden under "having a cup of coffee together."

The cafe used to be the center of art and knowledge in Argentina. Tortoni Cafe, tango king Carlos Gadell has sung many times, Einstein used to meet friends here; Lapiella Cafe, Argentine writer Borges often come to read newspapers; British Cafe, Ernesto Sabato completed part of the chapter of Heroes and the Tomb. Today, most of them have become old photos on the wall for people to recall.

Cafes are also witnesses to the history of Argentina. Although many of them have fallen into the dust of the past, their names are always tied to historical events. The Cadalanes Cafe, founded in 1799, was once a meeting place to protest against the Spanish colonial governor and witnessed the May Revolution of 1810. In the 1930s, when Argentina suffered a military dictatorship, the La Helveti Cafe on Mitre Street was a bastion of pen battles for journalists; in the 1950s, the economic boom brought about a rise in song and dance, and cafes worked part-time in small theatres. interspersed with small dramas and tango dramas; in the 1960s, it brought together literati and poets to talk.

At present, there are more than 3000 cafes in the city, including more than 70 time-honored shops over 100 years old. They, or beautifully decorated and modern, such as "Martinez", or the facilities are still like "Tortoni", are all important carriers and lubricants of Argentine social and cultural life. For this tradition on the tip of the tongue, the city government applied to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization last year to include the local coffee culture on the list of intangible cultural heritage of mankind.

However, with the continuous expansion of "consumer coffee chains" such as Starbucks in recent years, traditional Argentine cafes have encountered a survival crisis. Some famous cafes such as the City of London and Billiards 36 are difficult to maintain and have been replaced by Lido pharmacies and pizza shops. In 1998, the Buru municipal government set up the Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Cafe Excellence, adding 75 old-fashioned cafes to the list of Classic Caf é s. As a result, they have become key recommended cultural tourist attractions, and they can also receive a sum of money for repair and maintenance each year, provided that traditional social images, architectural styles and decorative styles are maintained.

As to whether traditional Argentine cafes can survive in this era of "fast coffee", coffee tasting expert Analia Alvarez said: "I'm not sure about that." To be sure, Argentines can do without coffee, but they can't do without cafes. "