Every country has its own snack foods and its own version of the classic sandwich. New Yorkers enjoy bagels, Venezuelans like to eat arepa, Turkish kebabs are popular the world over and in Buenos Aires, Argentines like to eat the miga.
What is an Argentine Miga?
A miga is a type of Argentine sandwich. The title, miga, refers to the type of bread used to make the snack itself. If up and out and about early enough in the morning, lots of different vans delivering the specially made bread to the various panaderias that simply line the streets of Buenos Aires can be seen.
The bread used to make a miga is a very large, square loaf, which appears to have had the crusts cut off. However, this is not the case. The bread is custom-made in this fashion and therefore produces a very slim sandwich (the slices of the bread in fact very thinly cut) without any edging.
A Sandwich Without the Crusts Marks a Huge Difference Between Cultures and Food
At first, the miga may appear a little strange, particularly to anyone born and raised in Britain where it was important to eat everything that was put on the plate. Leaving the table before everything was licked completely clean was not even a thought whispered on the wind at the dinner table of every working class family in the UK.
There was no pandering to finicky eating habits and mothers across the country could be clearly heard saying, ‘The crusts are where all the goodness is.’ Therefore, the idea of having a sandwich without any crusts appears at first to be a little ungrateful and somewhat of a cheat.
What Can be Found in a Typical Miga in Buenos Aires?
However, in Argentina the miga lives a proud life. A very common miga is of ham and cheese, a simple filling to match a simple style of bread, and they are very tasty. The bread has a kind of sweet taste to it and because it’s so thin, the miga is really easy to eat. They go down very quickly and without realising it, half a loaf has been consumed!
The Importance of the Miga in Argentine Culture and Society
The miga production line in Argentina is huge. So much so that lots of companies and regularly general food outlets as well as small, family run bakeries make large numbers of the miga to order. Whenever there is a family celebration or a party or perhaps a work conference, the miga is served.
Lots of companies endeavour to create new and tasty fillings for the miga to inspire customers to shop for their produce with them. Fillings such as parma ham and tomato, tuna and cheese, egg and palm of hearts are all big favourites. The orders are packaged beautifully and delivered (like so many things in Buenos Aires) to the door FREE of charge.
The idea of making the party sandwiches at home is just not even thought of in BA. It is all part and parcel of the celebration to have them made to order and for the style of sandwich to be the miga. Argentines are very proud of their food and their tastes can sometimes be rigid. However, in the case of the miga, they have all the reason in the world to want to celebrate it. It is a very tasty sandwich indeed.
When Travelling to Buenos Aires, Buy a Miga
If living or travelling in Buenos Aires and still a miga virgin, take the plunge and buy one. Nearly all panaderias serve them, so the hunt doesn’t take long. Also, just to throw it out there (always nice to know), the word ‘miga’ in Spanish actually translates to the English word for ‘crumb.’ How sweet!
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