Food in Argentine – Dulce de leche

Dulce de leche  is a confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from the caramelization of the product, changing flavor and color. Literally translated, it means “candy of milk” or “ca”milk jam” It is popular in South America, notably in Paraguay, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela. The dulce de leche of El Salvador has a soft, crumbly texture, with an almost crystallized form

The most basic recipe calls for slowly simmering milk and sugar stirring almost constantly, although other ingredients such as vanilla may be added for flavor. Much of the water in the milk evaporates and the mix thickens; the resulting dulce de leche is usually about a sixth of the volume of the milk used. The transformation that occurs in preparation is caused by a combination of two common browning reactions called caramelization and the malliard reaction

A home-made form of dulce de leche is sometimes made by boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for two to three hours (or 30 to 45 minutes in a pressure cooker), particularly by those living in countries where it cannot be bought ready-made. It is dangerous to do this on a stove: if the pot is allowed to boil dry, the can will overheat and explode.

Dulce de leche is used to flavour candies or other sweet foods, such as cakes, churros, cookies, creme carame (known as flan in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions), and ice creames

A similar recipe is used to prepare basundi  inIndia, which resembles a less condensed dulce de leche, flavoured with cardamom and eaten as a dessert. The Philipines also has dulce de leche, where it is usually paired with cakes or breakfast rolls.  It has also found its way into other desserts such as cakes and ice cream.