Argentines will tell you the best stuff is when mamma makes it, but making dulce de leche from scratch is a bit like waiting for a solar eclipse. You wait and wait (stirring condensed milk on a low heat for two to three hours), and finally see its magnificence for a brief moment, but it soon disappears with the blink of an eye. It’s best to keep a small stockpile in your cupboard…
It would be fair to say that mate falls in to that polite category of beverages – along with Fernet – of being ‘an acquired taste’. Pronounced ‘mah-tay’ (as opposed to an informal synonym of friend), this drink infusion is ubiquitous in Argentina and Uruguay. You’ll see taxi drivers, old ladies in the streets, lovers in parks, and friends in houses cradling a little gourd, taking a sip of mate through a bombilla (straw), and sharing it round. You’ll see it everywhere, and it will only be a matter of time (measured in hours rather than days) before you are offered some…
The first time I tasted Fernet I hated it. I was young (and for legal reasons I will not say how old, just in case the alcohol police are reading) and just starting to go out with friends to “los Boliches” (discos) and bars around Mendoza, Argentina. That black bitter drink, strong as hell and sweetened with Coca Cola, was not my ideal dancing partner. Diluted lager beer served in a simple plastic tumbler was more agreeable with my inexperienced liver and empty pockets, until…