The perfect steak in Buenos Aires
You've really got to feel sorry for the Argentineans. The peso is not worth, well, a peso; a slim Maradona looks like a an ugly 13-year-old schoolgirl; and England have beaten them at football. Twice. Deep wounds for a proud nation. But there's still one thing Argentina does best: beef. And La Cabaña restaurant in Buenos Aires will teach you how it should taste.
In the heart of the posh Recoleta neighbourhood, where women of a certain age (with a permanently startled look), carry uppity poodles, La Cabaña is a city institution. It first opened in the 1930s and was a favourite with Eva Peron, Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro and Joan Crawford - now that would make for a lively dinner party. It was taken over by the Orient Express group and reopened three years ago.
Diners may be suited and booted, but the place is still all about getting down and dirty with steaks and ribs.
Follow the example of the locals by starting with an assortment of entrails (Rueda de Achuras) and then working your way up through the restaurant's finest cuts. Finish with the house special, the Baby Beef - a, slim, trim lip-smacking delight. Years spent chewing the cud on the pampas pays off.
Steaks are served up with a barcode to demonstrate traceability - a link to a website takes you to a photograph of the animal that threw itself on to your plate. Too much information, perhaps.
· La Cabaña, Rodríguez Peña 1967, Buenos Aires (00 54 11 4814 0001; www.la-cabana.net). Dinner for two about £50
How to survive an avalanche
Most avalanche victims are killed skiing close to the edges of the marked pistes, so all skiers should know what to do if caught in one. 'First, try to get off the snow that is breaking up as soon as possible,' advises Henry Schniewind, who lectures on avalanches in Val d'Isere. 'If the fracture line is just above you, allow the snow to move past you by side-stepping up on your skis. If the fracture is way above you and you can't make it to the side fast, say a prayer, point your skis downhill, go like hell and try to get out of the way lower down.
'There is a lot of controversy about what to do if you are caught in moving snow. Some say swim and others say roll. You are better off without your skis - they will very probably be knocked off, but if not, you could try to kick them off. The most important thing is to keep your mouth free of snow and try to create an air pocket when you come a stop. People say spit to see which way is up, but who cares? The snow sets as hard as concrete so you won't be able to move anyway.'
· See www.henrysavalanchetalk.com for more.
What does 'Doors to manual and cross check' mean?
Just before a flight takes off, the pilot will ask the cabin crew to 'set doors to automatic', or sometimes 'arm doors', and 'cross check'. It's slightly misleading - the doors on a plane aren't automatic or armed. Neither are they locked. What the pilot is referring to are the inflatable escape slides. The crew pull a lever turning these on, so that if the door is subsequently opened, they will automatically inflate. A red tape is often placed across the door's window to show the slide is armed. (Saying 'arm evacuation slides' just before take-off might be more accurate but might scare nervous passengers.)
On arrival the slide is returned to 'manual', ie turned off, and the crew 'cross check'. This means they check the crew member on the other side of the plane has disarmed his or her door.
