Without a single doubt, the best thing about Chile (but only one of the best things about Argentina, since for that country there are many wonderful things!) is the manjar, called dulce de leche in Argentina, (and I think the rest of the world). It has the same colour as caramel or butterscotch, but it is infinitely infinitely better - better taste, better texture, better richness, and I could go on. I'm lucky that grocery stores (Loblaws in Toronto, Provigo in Montreal) carry it, because it allows me to still have it even when I'm not in South America. The first time I found it at Loblaws, I brought it home and before I had even put it in the cupboard I found myself eating it by the spoonful directly from the jar. After about 4 very big spoonfuls, I managed to put it away. But it was hard!
In Chile and Argentina, desserts (pastries, ice cream) are everywhere, which must be why I came back about fifteen pounds heavier after I studied abroad in Santiago. My sweet toothness goes back a long way. Dulce de leche/manjar features prominently in most pastries sold at bakeries. Within the first few weeks of my six month stay in Santiago I discovered manjar, and then proceeded to spend the following five and a half months eating entirely too much of it. My absolute favourite were mendocinos (called alfajores in Argentina – see picture below, sometimes they put powdered sugar on the outside) which is a two layed cookie with a lot of dulce de leche in the middle. This little café I went to all the time had both big ones and tiny little bite sized ones (called Mendocino chicos, in Argentina called alfajorcitos - also a picture below), of which I used to eat on average four a day telling myself that since they were so small, they really weren’t that bad. At the end of many a long day (or sometimes in the middle of the day) I’d stop on my way home for a little mendocino treat. I may have felt like I didn’t belong in Santiago, and I may have spent far more unhappy days than happy ones there, but when it came to a love of desserts and manjar, I fit right in.
Buenos Aires has the best ice cream of any other city I've ever been to (it also must have one of the highest percentages of ice cream shops per capita of any city in the world), and the main reason I believe that is because of the dulce de leche ice cream. Haagen Dazs also makes a dulce de leche ice cream which consists of a light coloured dulce de leche base with swirls of real dulce de leche mixed in. It's very good, but it doesn't come close to the dulce de leche ice cream in Buenos Aires. For starters, there's the colour. The Buenos Aires dulce de leche is a darker colour (a mix of tan and brown) than the Haagen Dazs, and the colour alone is enough to tell that the ice cream’s flavour is just pouring out. The ice cream is also very rich, but not an overwhelming or too rich rich, instead, it has a richness that is just right. It’s perfectly balanced, and perfectly delicious, and makes a person want to have ice cream every day.
Though I do miss the authentic dulce de leche filled pastries and ice cream of Argentina, fortunately, I have been able to find ways to eat dulce de leche back in North America which do not involve a spoon and a jar. Last year, I began mixing dulce de leche into my buttercream cupcake icing to great success. And for my most recent birthday, I had a dessert party at my apt where by far the most popular dessert I served was a homemade dulce de leche cheesecake. Happily, everyone really enjoyed it and it was the only dessert I didn't have any left overs of (much to my chagrin...) I'm glad it was such a success, and I'm also pleased to have found another way to eat dulce de leche.
Just before I left Berkeley for good, I had a dinner party on the summer solstice at my Hilgard apt where I served (what else??) spaghetti and wine. L. brought dessert and surprised me by baking these wonderful afajores. They were delicious, and such a treat! That was before I really got into baking myself (or rather expanded my baking beyond cake mixes) and writing this has reminded me that I should really either ask L. for the recipe, or search for one online myself. I may not be able to indulge in Argentine alfajores whenever I want, but I can at least try my best to make my own version, and to bring a little bit more dulce de leche into my life.
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