Oberá

The city of communities

The second city of Misiones - for its economic importance and number of inhabitants - is located in the center of the province, in a very rich and colorful area where the red earth contrasts with the greens of the Paraná rainforest and the profiles of the timber farms.

The city hosts the iconic event of the Fair of the Collectivities; it is that in the province of Misiones settled immigrants of various European nationalities, which is noticeable in the features of its affable people. Its premises recreate the typical constructions of the countries and the rest of the year it is used as a public park.

Also nice are its squares, sidewalks and small parks, each one dedicated to a community.

It is not a city to walk a lot because it is really a roller coaster of ups and downs. There are churches of the most varied styles and cults, which can be found without much effort both on Route 14 that crosses it and in the city as a whole.

We stayed at the hotel Casino Oberá; a typical building of the nineties in Argentina, whose ninth floor suite offered views of the city and a double jacuzzi, worthy of a scene from a Venezuelan soap opera or a B movie.

Already at nine in the morning the town's retirees were lining up to enter the casino, and at night, being Wednesday, in the mezzanine restaurant bar women were taking advantage of promotions in their honor.

Just in front of the hotel we discovered a historic bar, the San Martin, with locals smoking inside and a drink in hand, waiting for an empanada served on an aluminum tray. Behind the bar, old national distillates and an extensive collection of chamamé and folklore cassettes; quite an excursion through the time machine. A millennial would probably feel lost! 

Lumber and yerba mate production are the area's fortes, but the reason we decided to make a stop was the chance to visit Argentina's most important tea fields. Undoubtedly, the best organized is the enterprise of Carolina Okulovich and her mother, sommeliers who created La Ruta del Té. 

Between a golf course and eternal lines of camellia sinensis, an old missionary cabin was converted into an exquisite tea room. For more information about La Ruta del Té, click here.

Another version not so developed but very valuable is the case of Irma Fraga´s enterprise, Doña Irma, in Campo Viera, on route 14 to the north. A little yellow sign invites you to stop and discover the organic, handmade and sun-dried strands produced by its local producer.

The city also offers haute cuisine by Marcelo Prozapas, in his gourmet cult cathedral, Del Monte restaurant. It is an old yerba mate dryer converted into a dining room, with a contemporary ambience. It has an extensive wine list and tremendous cocktails.

We started with a dried tomato, eggplant and olive pasta. Then a sweetbread cocktail in leek cream and chardonnay.

The signature dish of our evening was capybara stew; a sumptuous northern style casserole in hot broth, with potatoes, carrots and onions, ideal for that first cold and rainy night at the end of winter in Oberá. My choice was a lasagna with mushrooms typical of the abundant forests of Misiones.

Then a superb dulce de leche volcano, which we accompanied with a memorable drink prepared by José María, waiter and barman: a caipiroska in a missionary version, made of vodka and homemade rosella liqueur, a hibiscus known in other latitudes as Flor de Jamaica. A delight!