Are you the kind who must have something sweet at the end of a meal? I am definitely not. I like my coffee or tea black without sugar. I am not keen on most fruit juices as they tend to be too sweet. I don’t like anything sweet. No I lie. There is just one thing sweet, sickeningly sweet actually, that I love and it is called Jalur Emas, a classic dessert made of egg yolk and sugar syrup from my home town Kelantan. I think I love it not because of the sweetness but for my love of egg yolk!
I envy my partner P for it is so easy for him to get his daily dose of joy. The mention of ice-cream, dessert or anything sweet, his gentle eyes would flash a glimmer of delight. As his travel companion, I get to explore the wonders of Argentinian desserts.
You cannot miss Dulce de Leche ( “sweet from milk” in English，焦糖牛奶醬) when you come to Buenos Aires. It is everywhere and used in all types of desserts and sweets. It is made of sweetened milk that is heated and becomes caramelized to create this nice sweet caramel milk paste. It is eaten practically at all meal times, including breakfast where it is spread on bread or toast.
Merengue Dulce （蛋白霜夾焦糖牛奶醬）looks like a giant macaron with dulce de leche filling. I cannot imagine how anyone can finish this one in one sitting. Maybe it is possible for someone with a sweet tooth but definitely not for me. I am happy to taste and sample all kinds of desserts but in general I steer clear of sweet things.
When I said gigantic, I am not exaggerating. This is how big the merengue dulce is. How can one eat this elegantly I wonder.
Flan (like a creme caramel 焦糖布丁) and bread pudding are always served with a dollop of dulce de leche.
Argentinians love their meringue （蛋白霜）and you see it popping up all over the place. This meringue is filled with cream butter (basically butter and sugar whipped together). It is so sweet that you are guaranteed a sugar rush. [/caption]
Rogel (夾層蛋糕）is a unique cake made of several layers of light pastry separated by dulce de leche and topped with meringue. The layers of pastry are thin and make for a crumbly cake. The gooey dulce de leche adds a new level of sweetness. Do you now believe me when I say Argentinians are crazy about meringue and dulce de leche?
Mantecol is basically a solid block of peanut butter, served during Christmas and New Year accompanying champagne toasts. For peanut lover, this is heaven! This piece I bought from the local Carrefour supermarket contains peanuts and almond.
Finally, for something that is not too sweet, queso y dulce (乳酪與甜醬). Cheese with dulce de membrillo (quince paste 海棠醬) or dulce de batata (sweet potato paste 地瓜醬). It is a heavenly match of savory and sweet. This is one dessert I can happily tuck into. [/caption
I know I am missing two on my list, chocotorta and alfajor. Hopefully I will get to try it before the end of our trip here.
Updated 2018-01-12
Found some alfajores at a bakery in El Calafate and they have a pink one which turns out to be a local specialty. The pink colour comes from the Calafate berry (looks like blueberry) of which the town is named. So what is alfajores? Two crumbly cookies held together by, you guessed it, dulce de leche. I read that the cookies are made of cornstarch. I couldn’t tell if the ones I bought were made of corn starch as they tasted just like normal crumbly cookies to me.
