Día de Ñoquis

Food here in Uruguay is not something I am much inspired to write about. It tends to be bland and very light on the vegetables. Most things have ham on them, which isn't a bad thing. Parilla is everywhere -- meats cooked on a grill over coals.

The parilla mixta para dos that Mike and I had this weekend in Colonia del Sacramento consisted of the following: one sausage and one blood sausage; a couple strips of asado, which is a long strip of fairly tough fatty meat with short bones in it; a number of pieces of (cow?) liver; a couple of (cow?) kidneys; and one very small & good piece of grilled steak.

It is true that a dog of flexible attitude lying in the gutter next to our curbside table soon found himself outside one blood sausage and one kidney. To Mike's horror or relief I laid waste to the other kidney and all of the liver.

But this is beside the point which is ñoquis, better known in our erstwhile neck of the woods as gnocchi. According to our guidebook, the Uruguayan tradition of eating gnocchi on the 29th of each month dates to a time when most people were paid monthly. By the 29th they could only afford the relatively cheap potato-based food and día de ñoquis was born. I don't know if this is accurate but it is delicious.

In honor of their working-class roots we wanted to have our ñoquis at a little hole-in-the-wall but ended up in El Caburé, a modestly appointed bistro down the street. The ñoquis were fabulous, and I'm not a raving gnocchi fan most of the time. Delicious little puffs of potato, ours were spinach-based and green. My ñoquis came with a flavorful tomato sauce and a roasted chicken leg on the side. Mike's were in caruso sauce which is cream-based and incorporates mushrooms and ham. His were divine.

My only question is what happens in February? Do people go a month without their ñoquis or is the blessed event moved up a day?