Food in Chille – Cola de mono

Cola de mono  is a traditional Chilean drinkserved around Christmas time, very much like the tradition of serving eggnog during Christmas in North America. As far as texture and taste, it can be fairly compared to the mixed drink White Russian.

Although there are many versions of this drink, it contains mainly aguardiente, milk, sugar, coffee, and cloves, . A virgin version can be made simply without the alcohol, with families making a batch for the children and one for the grown-ups.

There are several theories surrounding the origin of the name. Since this drink is homemade, it was originally bottled in bottles whose labels were from the company Anis del Mono, Eventually the play on words of cola de mono was created. The more accepted theory, however, is related to President Pedro Montt , nicknamed El Mono Montt, or Monkey Montt. During an evening party, Montt prepared to leave and asked for his revolver, a Colt. He was convinced to stay and continue on with the festivities. After all of the wine was drunk and the guests still thirsty for more, mixed milk, coffee, aguardiente, and sugar. Within time, the drink gained popularity and was dubbed “Colt de Montt”, eventually morphing into “Cola de Mono.”

FOOD IN BRAZIL – COXINHA

The coxinha  is a popular food in many countries in South America especially Brazil,. consisting of chopped or shredded chicken meat fried in batter, molded into a shape resembling a chicken leg.

Coxinhas were originally made with a chicken thigh, which its traditional shape is meant to resemble. In its modern processed form it may have originated in Sao paulo in the 19th century.

In the book Stories & Recipes, Nadir Cavazin says that the son of Princess Izabel of Brazil (1846-1921) and the Count D’Eu, a child who lived in seclusion for having mental problems had a favorite dish, chicken, but only ate the thigh. One day, not having enough thigh, the cook decided to turn a whole chicken into thighs, shredding it and making the filling for a flour dough shaped into a drumstick. The child endorsed the results.Empress Teresa Christina, when she was visiting him, could not resist the tasty delicacy; she liked it so much she requested that the master of the imperial kitchen learn how to prepare the snack. So coxinha won over the nobility and became history.

The coxinha is based on dough made with wheat flour and chicken broth, which is filled with spiced chicken meat. The filling consists of chicken, tomato sauce, oniom , parsley, and scallions, that is coated in wheat flour .Variants including potato are also commonly sold .It is shaped to roughly resemble a chicken leg. The dough used to coat the filling is often prepared with the broth of the chicken, enhancing the flavor of the coating.

Different variations of the original are becoming more prevalent today – for example, the coxinha mineira, for which the filling includes maize, so named because maize is deemed a culinary tradition in the state of Minas Gerais, as well as areas where the caipira and sertanejo dialects are spoken. Cheese coxinhas are also very common in snack bars. To mark the cheese coxinhas they usually have a toothpick where the bone would be in a chicken coxinha.

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.