Milk is a very important part of the meal, or as an item of food on its own. It has animal protein, carbohydrates and fats for energy, and other micronutrients essential to good health. Adding sugar to milk is a culinary technique that enhances its nutritional value and forms part of traditional cooking for many people. Nowadays, you can even have dulce de leche in a can, with all the convenience of an off-the-shelf product.
For the uninformed, dulce de leche is a customary sweet dairy dish in South America. The dulce part of the name refers to its sweetness, and is derived from the addition of sugar to the milk. The mixture is then heated gradually so that it thickens and crystallizes. Sometimes, people add other ingredients for flavor, such as spices or vanilla.
If you are going to try to make this yourself, you need to keep in mind the usual issues around cooking with milk. Milk will catch or adhere to the base of the pot if you heat it too rapidly. Hot milk generates a layer or "skin" on its surface as it cools. So, heat the milk as slowly as possible and in one session, stirring all the time. Don't do it in stages or leave it alone.
Some people make dulce de leche by boiling a sealed tin of condensed milk in water. Commercial condensed milk products are usually already sweetened, so the convenience of this method is obvious. However, this is also hazardous because the tin is airtight, and a raised temperature causes its contents to expand. If the pot is abandoned on the stove, the water will boil off and the exposed tin will explode. It may not start a fire but the clean-up job will be extensive. And, of course, this method should never be attempted in a microwave oven.
The dish is open to individual experiments with flavor or other ingredients. Milk is easy to work with, and offers ample opportunity for indigenous adaptation. There is seemingly no limit to what one can add to it. Anything that goes with milk as a drink will potentially work in this dish too. As an example, look at any milkshake menu for ideas.
It can also be used in other dishes. Custard, ice-cream or cream are typically served with desserts, but because dulce de leche is so similar to them, both in ingredients and texture, it has the same potential applications. It can also be served after the meal as a stand-alone item. Some people use it in their baking.
In India, a similar product known as basundi is made. Its method of preparation is the same, and it is combined with fruit or cheese to produce local variations. Indian cooking uses an extensive range of spices, and basundi is no exception to this.
The universal occurrence of this dish is an example of peoples' common affinity with dairy and milk. Anything based on the latter can thus be used to cater for diverse cultural occasions, because no culture or religion rejects it. Vegetarians, too, are allowed to consume it. The dish is an internationally marketable food item. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy associated sugared milk with family love and domestic bliss, a sentiment with which people in many other countries may agree.
For the uninformed, dulce de leche is a customary sweet dairy dish in South America. The dulce part of the name refers to its sweetness, and is derived from the addition of sugar to the milk. The mixture is then heated gradually so that it thickens and crystallizes. Sometimes, people add other ingredients for flavor, such as spices or vanilla.
If you are going to try to make this yourself, you need to keep in mind the usual issues around cooking with milk. Milk will catch or adhere to the base of the pot if you heat it too rapidly. Hot milk generates a layer or "skin" on its surface as it cools. So, heat the milk as slowly as possible and in one session, stirring all the time. Don't do it in stages or leave it alone.
Some people make dulce de leche by boiling a sealed tin of condensed milk in water. Commercial condensed milk products are usually already sweetened, so the convenience of this method is obvious. However, this is also hazardous because the tin is airtight, and a raised temperature causes its contents to expand. If the pot is abandoned on the stove, the water will boil off and the exposed tin will explode. It may not start a fire but the clean-up job will be extensive. And, of course, this method should never be attempted in a microwave oven.
The dish is open to individual experiments with flavor or other ingredients. Milk is easy to work with, and offers ample opportunity for indigenous adaptation. There is seemingly no limit to what one can add to it. Anything that goes with milk as a drink will potentially work in this dish too. As an example, look at any milkshake menu for ideas.
It can also be used in other dishes. Custard, ice-cream or cream are typically served with desserts, but because dulce de leche is so similar to them, both in ingredients and texture, it has the same potential applications. It can also be served after the meal as a stand-alone item. Some people use it in their baking.
In India, a similar product known as basundi is made. Its method of preparation is the same, and it is combined with fruit or cheese to produce local variations. Indian cooking uses an extensive range of spices, and basundi is no exception to this.
The universal occurrence of this dish is an example of peoples' common affinity with dairy and milk. Anything based on the latter can thus be used to cater for diverse cultural occasions, because no culture or religion rejects it. Vegetarians, too, are allowed to consume it. The dish is an internationally marketable food item. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy associated sugared milk with family love and domestic bliss, a sentiment with which people in many other countries may agree.
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