When you think of Argentine food, you probably think of steak, steak and then more steak.
While you wouldn't be wrong, and Argentine beef is indisputably among the best in the world, Argentina is bigger than India, and the variations in ingredients and cultural influences across the country have resulted in an intricately varied range of delicious and different dishes.
The myth that Argentine food is one dimensional isn't helped by the fact that in nine out or ten Argentine restaurants the menu is identical - a barbecue section, pastas and pizzas, and minutas, or food that's ready in just a few minute, such as sandwiches and milanessas (flattened, breadcrumbed chicken or beef).
If you go back fifteen or twenty years though, most English restaurants were pretty uninspiring too, and similarly in Argentina today you have to either know where to go, or eat in people's homes.
Beef is nonetheless a good place to begin.
The fabled quality of Argentina's beef is thanks to the happiness of its cattle.
On the enormous plains of the pampas that stretch for hundreds of miles inland from Buenos Aires, millions of cows enjoy a mild climate and abundant, lush grass all year round.
They never have to wander far to eat or drink (too much exercise makes the meat tough), have plenty of space, and never have to eat grain or corn.
Argentines are understandably beef-crazy, and typically barbecue either huge steaks, or a bigger joint to share.
While the beef is cooking, they'll often eat choripan (thick, meaty pork sausage with chimichirri dressing - vinegar, olive oil, herbs and spices - in a crusty baguette), black pudding, or ribs, to whet the appetite.
Barbecues are accompanied by salads and possibly fresh bread, but nothing else, as you don't want to fill up space reserved for the meat.
In the late nineteenth century, the Argentine government created incentives for Europeans to immigrate, hoping to attract Anglo-Saxons with their focused work-ethic to stabilise and grow the economy.
While certainly a good number of Britons did answer the call (many of whose descendants remain today), ultimately many more southern Italians did, to the extent that today's Argentine population is as much Italian descended as Spanish.
Unfortunately, they brought their work ethic, which may well explain many of the country's problems today.
On the plus side, they brought their food, and throughout the country you will find fresh pasta and pizza as good as any in Italy.
In some cases, recipes have evolved to incorporate native American ingredients, such as pumpkin and mozzarella sorrentinos (large, round raviolis) with creamy corn sauce.
In the north west of the country, Andean culture has contributed to the national cuisine, such dishes as empanadas (quite like Cornish Pasties, and referred to as 'Saltenas' in Bolivia, Peru and Chile, as the best are said to come from Salta in Argentina), locro (a thick, meat and vegetable stew ideal for a cold evening in the mountains), and humitas (grated corn, cheese and spices wrapped up in corn leaves and boiled).
Two thousand miles away in the south, just across from the Falkland Islands, the British-established sheep farms of Patagonia still produce some of the best lamb in the world.
A Patagonian asado (barbecue) involves racking up a whole lamb on a grill next to a camp fire, the trick being to cook it very gently over several hours without letting the meat dry (the trick is constant basting).
Native to Patagonia are also various wild fruits and berries, such as Calafate, ideal for making jams - and what better accompaniment for the local lamb? Meanwhile, the wild salmon introduced from Scotland over a century ago have found the food supply where the Rio Gallegos river meets the freezing southern Atlantic so nourishing that they have grown to nearly twice their distant Scottish cousins' in size.
In the lake district in the foothills of the Andes around Bariloche in the west, a small community of Swiss immigrants created a handmade chocolate industry regarded as the best in the Americas.
In the lakes themselves, the abundance of brown and rainbow trout (again introduced by the British) have led to the creation of a number of dishes, such as smoked trout with fennel and sheep cheese, or stewed with fruit and cream.
In the tropical north east meanwhile, the huge local Dorado and Surubi river fish make hearty meals baked, stewed or barbecued with yuca (cassava) and tropical fruits.
The region also provides the nation with yerba mate, a bitter herb that is mixed with boiled water and drunk through a straw with a filter at one end to become preferred alternative to tea or coffee for many Argentines.
Then there are the sweet foods.
Alongside local jams and preserves, dulce de leche, a caramel made by slowly boiling milk, sugar and vanilla pods for several hours, is ubiquitous on breakfast tables across the country.
It is also eaten as a sauce on (and an ingredient of) puddings, and to make cakes and biscuits, such as alfajores (despite the originally Arabic name, alfajores are distinctly Argentine, being two biscuits forming a dulce de leche sandwich either sprinkled with coconut or covered in chocolate).
The Argentine take on the mil ojas (mille feux in French) cake is another good use of dulce del leche - alternate layers of filo pastry and dulce de leche, all covered in soft, creamy meringue.
Where to eat Argentine food in the UK: In London, The Gaucho Grill, El Gaucho, Buen Ayre, Constancia and Santa Maria del Sur.
In Liverpool, Meet; in Leeds, the River Plate Steak House; in Manchester, Grillados, and in Edinburgh, Los Argentinos.