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A hopeful dystopia, simple recipe, and ‘circuitous reunion’
Professor of Afro-Latin American history recommends sights, tastes, and sounds of Argentina
Part of the Favorite Things series
Recommendations from Harvard faculty
Paulina Alberto is a Professor of African and African American Studies and of History.
A TV show
“El Eternauta”
I’m not usually a fan of sci-fi, but this dystopian show about an alien invasion set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, transcends the genre. To Argentines (like me) who grew up seeing U.S. cities devastated by the magic of Hollywood, it’s a shocking thrill to see our capital city blanketed in the eerie, poisonous snow that announces the invasion. But the show’s message is hopeful: No one gets through this alone. An adaptation of a series of anti-authoritarian graphic novels first published in 1957, today its signature gas masks and motto of solidarity are taken up by Argentine scholars, scientists, and researchers defending their institutions from government attacks.
A recipe
Simple salads
When produce is bountiful (especially after unloading a farm share into our refrigerator), I like to return to the salads I grew up with. Go to a traditional neighborhood restaurant or grill in Buenos Aires and you’ll find a long list of salads with just one vegetable: carrot, tomato, beet, fennel, watercress, turnip, and so on. My father’s favorites were celery or onion (slice either of these paper-thin and soak in wine vinegar before adding plenty of salt and oil). Make at least four or five of these one-veg salads. They inevitably mingle on your plate, but each flavor shines in a way an “everything” salad just can’t replicate.
A song
“Tú ve” by Kevin Johansen and Natalia Lafourcade
This is a twofer — like asking the genie for one more wish: “Tú ve,” by two of my favorite recording artists, Kevin Johansen (Argentina) and Natalia Lafourcade (Mexico). It’s a song (built on a play on words) about separations, missed encounters, and circuitous reunion. Johansen and his band, La Nada, are eclectic and creative, playfully remixing Argentina’s pop, rock, and folklore traditions with genres and collaborators from across the Americas. Lafourcade makes luminous indie music grounded in the traditional styles of Mexico and especially her native Veracruz. You don’t need to understand Spanish to love their music.
— As told to Sy Boles/Harvard Staff Writer
