There are few plants more “Gauchito” than the cactus. It requires very little watering, adjusts the amount of sunlight that reaches it and with a little luck presents us with a flower.

These hand-woven textile cactuses need even less help from us and they will never let us down.

They come in are a variety of cactus models: prickly, hairy, flat and round. Each cactus with its flowerpot is ready to make your home more beautiful.

The crocheted cactus, depending on model and size, ranges in price from $25 to $140.

Pick up the cactus in Cualquier Verdura. Open Thursday-Sunday, midday to 8pm. For more information, click here.

‘Vegan cooking’ and ‘Buenos Aires’ are not words that you often hear in the same sentence. Persuading yourself to give up all the joy of a juicy asado in favour of vegetables might sound difficult, but if there ever comes a point when you have eaten yourself sick of steak and dulce de leche and want to try something completely different, then Cocina Verde, a vegan home delivery service based in San Telmo, is one option.

Photo courtesy of Cocina Verde

Cocina Verde aims to provide Buenos Aires with healthy meals, with an emphasis on ‘raw live’ vegan food. The company was launched at the beginning of this month by Kara Bauer, who moved from the United States to Buenos Aires in 2006. It is literally a one-woman business, with Kara buying the ingredients, preparing the food in her home and delivering it herself.

Kara tells me that the company was partly inspired by a similar vegetarian delivery service called The Lucky Palate, which was available in her native Seattle. However, unlike the US company on which it is based, Cocina Verde is not just vegetarian service but a vegan one. Kara says that making her company strictly vegan was a very personal decision. She explains that when she arrived in Buenos Aires, she was eating meat but suffered some minor health problems and it was only after becoming a vegan that she began to feel better. Now it is an experience that she wants to share with others. Kara says that she’d like to deliver the kind of food that she wants to eat herself: “I think it’s important to do what you’re passionate about”, she explains.

Kara’s service places special emphasis on ‘raw live food’, a style of cooking in which nothing is heated above 44ºC. The idea is that in regular cookery, excessive heat damages the vitamins and enzymes in vegetables, and reduces their nutritional value. The Cocina Verde website gives a long list of all the supposed benefits attached to eating this food, saying that it can lead to increased energy, better skin, improved digestion, and a reduced rate of heart disease. It also claims that raw food is good for those looking to lose weight, as uncooked ingredients contain more nutrients, which help the body to feel full more quickly, and thus allow you to eat less.

Whether or not the philosophy of veganism and raw food is your cup of tea – or glass of wheatgrass and carrot juice! – some of the food available with Cocina Verde is refreshing and tasty. To test out the service I ordered a butternut squash soup ($16 for half a kilo), a kale hiziki salad ($24 for half a kilo) and a daikon noodle pad thai ($28 for half a kilo).

The soup was creamy and surprisingly sweet, with a soft, spicy flavour from the added nutmeg. I had ordered the kale hiziki salad mainly out of curiosity to find out what ‘hiziki’ was (it is described on the website as a ‘sea vegetable’ but I had never heard of it before). In the end it wasn’t quite what I expected, tasting nothing like the kind of seaweed you might get in a Chinese restaurant, but was nevertheless extremely tasty. It had a strange, almost fishy flavour that worked very well with the kale and the added sesame seeds gave the salad a bit of bite.

Photos by Beatrice Murch

Pesto Pizza and Almond Milk

For a main meal I had the daikon noodle pad thai. Fans of traditional pad thai should be warned that this is quite different. For starters it is meant to be eaten cold (one of the ingredients is lettuce) and it has a lot of crunchy raw ingredients, which make it more like a noodle salad than a stir-fry. Instead of crushed peanuts it contains almonds, and it has a sharp, almost bitter taste from the added radish and cilantro. Although I’m not truly convinced that I’d give up a real hearty, hot pad thai for the raw vegan option, it was certainly a lighter alternative.

I also tried some of Kara’s almond butter and milk, both of which are promoted on the website as healthier alternatives to dairy. The milk smelled delicious, and tasted good too (although, maybe a little like herbal tea, the flavour didn’t quite live up to the smell) The almond butter on the other hand was really wonderful. Crunchy, crumbly and a little bit sweet it worked very well on crackers. I have to confess I demolished a whole jar in a day and a half.

Cocina Verde is fairly good value for money, with most dishes coming in half-kilo containers, and costing between $16 and $30. However, be warned that there is a $100 minimum on all orders, so it’s not normally possible just to buy a couple items. The reason for this is that the company is envisioned as a weekly dietary supplement, rather than an ordinary take-out service. The idea is that you order enough meals to last you all week, enabling you to add a few vegan options into your normal diet. Orders must be placed by Friday, and deliveries are made every Tuesday.

In the end, whether or not you’re interested in a full-scale conversion to veganism, or just feel like you could do with eating a couple more vegetables, Cocina Verde is certainly an appealing and hassle-free option.

Photo by Beatrice Murch

Across the globe, we have come to regard the delivery of fast food to our homes as normal practice. It is the salvation of an otherwise standard Saturday night in and an indulgent treat that provides a welcome break from cooking.

In Argentina, however, this craze has expanded to include all manner of things. Whereas in the UK and US, we are accustomed to online shopping from major supermarkets and internet sites, there are still some limitations as to what we can purchase over the phone or online. The fridges of Buenos Aires residents, on the other hand, are covered in little magnets advertising the delivery services of companies as diverse as tobacconists and pharmacies.

Home-delivered food

Porteños and ex-pats alike can enjoy every type of food imaginable delivered to their door, from the less unusual Chinese, Indian and Italian dishes to the slightly rarer Middle Eastern, Japanese and Thai foods. In fact, you can order a three-course meal from three different places, perhaps an empanada to start, followed by your favourite international dish, and some ice cream to finish! Even more surprising to foreigners, is that in the centre of Buenos Aires, fast-food chains McDonalds and Burger King offer this service at certain times during opening hours.

Vamsi Vemuru from Texas has been living in Buenos Aires for ten months working as an English teacher. “I get things ordered about four times a week, either empanadas, Chinese food, or sushi. I love the delivery system, it’s quite reliable; they’ve only screwed up my order once. Generally things get delivered quickly, other than sushi, which takes about an hour, but it’s worth it!”

This country is famous for its steak and other meat products, so when in Argentina, you can do as the Argentines do and have a carne a la parrilla delivered, cooked to perfection, to your door. Normally this is a very large portion of meat, but there are places that will deliver just enough for smaller groups or even one person! Alternatively, if you prefer to cook your meat yourself, some butchers will bring you their choice cuts of asado meat.

Walking down the street, you may have been slightly confused to see waiters carrying trays of coffee and medialunas, and you would have been forgiven for thinking they had become very lost on their way to a table. However, the truth behind this strange spectacle is that in Buenos Aires, it is also possible to have your fully prepared breakfast (which sometimes includes champagne!), lunch or dinner delivered to you from your favourite nearby café or restaurant.

It is not just fresh, ready-to-eat food that can be shipped to your doorstep. If you forget to buy an item in a weekly shop, the simple act of telephoning your nearest kiosco will rectify this problem.

Home-delivered professionals

If you find yourself for some reason unable to leave the house, doctors, hairdressers and even pharmacists will come tend to your every whim, bringing their prescriptions with them. This also includes the launderette, which will collect, clean and return your clothes in perfect condition to your doorstep.

It’s not just your needs that can be met. Animal lovers can have their pet’s health maintained by home visits from a vet. Obviously, no major operations, but booster injections and check ups are possible. Slightly more everyday, dog walkers can be organised through the internet to collect and walk your dog once or twice daily, depending on how lazy you are.

Home-delivered… what?!

So once your basic needs and the basic needs of your beloved pet have been met, you can set about giving yourself a little more luxury in your agoraphobic life. Cigarettes and alcohol can be delivered 24 hours a day to every corner of the city, and for those with slightly more refined taste, there is also the option of high quality Cuban cigars.

So big is the craze of home-delivery that even the sex shops are getting in on the act. Izequiel from Sex Shop Argentina in Buenos Aires says “since the internet, delivery sales have boomed! People prefer to shop this way, the majority of sex shops are in the capital, therefore delivery is the only way for people in the provinces to get what they want.”

Whatever next?

Here are The Argentina Independent’ pick of the best home delivery services:

Alcohol - 0800 Vino - fine wines at normal prices delivered 24/7 – www.0800-vino.com

Food - www.deliveryx.com.ar - every conceiveable type of food can be ordered via this site

Other - www.panqueco.com.ar - order fully prepared crepes or tacos to your home for a pancake party!