Labor Day Munchies

Happy Labor Day!!! Here in Uruguay, like most other countries around the world, Labor Day is celebrated on May 1st. Everything was closed today which resulted in a pretty quiet day in el hogar as most of my roommates were gone and it was rainy and cloudy most of the day. I was in my room reading when one of my friends invited me to take part in a Uruguayan tradition, eating torta fritaor fried bread. Here in Uruguay, it is a tradition to eat torta frita on rainy days. I have asked lots of people why this tradition exists and have not yet gotten a conclusive answer. Apparently, nobody really knows why the tradition exists or began. Either way, like most street foods, torta frita is tasty, cheap and not at all healthy and since it was Labor Day and everything was closed, we ended making it ourselves. I have never deep fried anything in my life and was a little grossed out by the amount of grasa vacuna a.k.a. in English as "cow fat" or "lard", we used to fry but it was still a good learning experience. (Unlike mate, I don't think I'll bring this tradition back with me to the United States) Cow fat aside, making and eating torta frita with friends was a great way to pass a rainy, gloomy, Labor Day afternoon.

Mate & torta frita: Helping Uruguayans cope with rainy days since 1811

                                                                  --Emery E. May 1st, 2013