Reputation at steak: Argentina slips from beef-eating top spot

My flight out to Argentina is sorted, thanks to the helpful people at Air Europa. This time next week I'll be in Buenos Aires, starting my update of the 2011 Bradt Guidebook. Obviously, in only four months, I can't visit every bar in a country the size of Europe, but I'll try.

What to put on the cover of the new edition? There are three cliche images for Argentina. First is obviously tango, probably a close-up of a fishnet-stockinged thigh bent round a male leg. Second is a gaucho hurling his horse across the pampas. Third is a steak the size of a duvet.

Well, I love the nuevo-tango music of Astor Piazzolla et al, but I dad-dance like Mr Bean after a shandy too many. I rode a horse once, in New Zealand, but couldn't steer the darn thing and couldn't find the cruise control. And I'm not that fond of steak.

And Argentina's reputation as the world's biggest carnivore is under threat. The Guardian recently reported that drought and restrictions have seen annual consumption of beef slump from 70kg per head to 56kg.

Shockingly, those quiet cousins over the river in Uruguay have taken over the the top steak-eating spot, with 59kg.