A hopeful dystopia, simple recipe, and 'circuitous reunion' - Harvard Gazette

"I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi, but this dystopian show about an alien invasion set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, transcends the genre. To Argentines (like me) who grew up seeing U.S. cities devastated by the magic of Hollywood, it's a shocking thrill to see our capital city blanketed in the eerie, poisonous snow that announces the invasion. But the show's message is hopeful: No one gets through this alone."

"When produce is bountiful (especially after unloading a farm share into our refrigerator), I like to return to the salads I grew up with. Go to a traditional neighborhood restaurant or grill in Buenos Aires and you'll find a long list of salads with just one vegetable: carrot, tomato, beet, fennel, watercress, turnip, and so on. My father's favorites were celery or onion (slice either of these paper-thin and soak in wine vinegar before adding plenty of salt and oil). Make at least four or five of these one-veg salads."

A dystopian science-fiction series set in Buenos Aires depicts an alien invasion that blankets the city in eerie, poisonous snow and transforms gas masks and a motto of solidarity into active symbols for scholars, scientists, and researchers defending institutions from government attacks. Traditional neighborhood restaurants and grills in Buenos Aires offer single-vegetable salads—carrot, tomato, beet, fennel, watercress, turnip, celery, or onion—prepared simply so each flavor stands out; slicing celery or onion paper-thin and soaking in wine vinegar with salt and oil is recommended, and preparing four or five one-vegetable salads lets flavors mingle while remaining distinct. The song "Tú ve," by Kevin Johansen and Natalia Lafourcade, is built on a play on words about separations, missed encounters, and circuitous reunion.

Read at Harvard Gazette