Berkeley – The cuisine of Argentina is largely a product of the confluence of geography and immigrant culture. The pampas, South America’s vast, grassy flatlands, dominate Argentina’s landscape east of the Andes. These fertile plains are perfectly suited to cattle ranching and have given birth to South America’s very own brand of cowboy culture and a national passion for grilled red meat. The Andean foothills around the region of Mendoza provide a bountiful grape harvest and comprise one of the continent’s richest wine-making regions – as well as the world’s second-largest producer of the Malbec varietal.
Both cattle and wine came to Argentina with the Spanish, but the influence of European culture was by no means limited to that of the Spanish. For the last two centuries immigrants from all corners of Europe have flooded into Argentina; of all the countries in the Americas, only the United States has attracted Europeans in greater numbers. As a result, many of the most prevalent national dishes can be traced directly to the Old World: pizza and pasta from Italy, pastries from Switzerland and Germany, and even English tea.
Interestingly, though, one of Argentina’s most ubiquitous – and possibly most-cherished – delicacies enjoys a more mysterious pedigree. The treat is dulce de leche, a gooey, caramelized concoction made from slowly heated milk and sugar. Its popularity is evident to any traveler to Argentina by its pervasiveness. As a cake filling, a spread for toast, a topping for pancakes or even an ice cream flavor, dulce de leche can be found on the table with every meal – from breakfast to dessert to late-night snack. It is simply the defining sweet of Argentina.
Dulce de leche can hardly be discussed without mentioning its primary composition, the equally inescapable alfajor. Argentine alfajores are sweet snack cakes that come in a variety of forms but basically consist of dulce de leche sandwiched between a pair of biscuits and covered in chocolate. Most common are the “black” (chocolate covered) and the “white” (white chocolate) flavors, however they can also be found coated in powdered sugar instead of chocolate. Alfajores are found at any street corner newsstand (or kiosko), market, bus depot or train station.
The popularity of dulce de leche can also be measured in numbers. Argentina is not only one of the top exporters of the sweet paste but also one of its biggest consumers. Domestic consumption has increased by almost 20% in the five years between 2006 and 2011 alone, and production peaked in 2010 with a record-setting 131,000 tons.
Argentines are passionate about their traditions, whether tango, fútbol, or asado, and their fervency extends equally to dulce de leche. In fact, this ardor for the caramel paste has actually yielded political ramifications, resulting in a spat with its northern neighbor. In 2003 Argentina’s Secretary of Culture asserted that dulce de leche’s patrimony was uniquely Argentine. Uruguay shares a love of dulce de leche, which is a staple of its cuisine and food culture as well. Fearing for the fate of its own production of dulce de leche for export, Uruguay challenged the claim of Argentine origin. The dispute has been elevated to the point of UN mediation and is currently under consideration by UNESCO.
What, then, is the origin of this prized, palatable paste? As the intractable dispute between Uruguay and Argentina would indicate, its provenance is not as clear as the pizza’s. According to Argentine tradition, dulce de leche was first produced by accident during an armed conflict in the Cañuelas province of Buenos Aires in 1829. One of the maids of Argentine General Juan Manuel de Rosas had been warming sweetened milk for the troops when she was interrupted by the arrival of the leader of the opposing forces, who had come to sign a peace treaty. In the commotion her cooking was left untended. When she returned to her kitchen she found the milk had reduced to form the delectable dulce de leche.
Naturally, Uruguayans have their own creation myth for dulce de leche – that it was concocted by slaves to enrich their diet – but other accounts place its genesis as far away as the medieval Norman hearth or even among the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia of ancient India. Whatever its true origin, dulce de leche is as inseparable from Argentina’s culture as the tango and the gaucho.
