Buenos Aires Photo of the Day

As I start to organize the more than 900 pix I took in Buenos Aires, I thought I would post one (or more) a day. They will usually have a little story behind them and usually be about food, but not necessarily always.

Today's photo is of dulce de leche (caramelized milk spread). A small jar (bottom) was on my hotel breakfast table every morning. Also shown (top) is some of the ways Portenos (people of Buenos Aires, only with a tilda over the n) might start their day with the tasty spread. One memorable dessert was a coconut flan. In addition to the caramel pooling from the top of the custard and down the sides of the dessert was a slab of thick dulce de leche alongside it. Just in case there wasn't enough caramel goodness in the flan alone.

(By the way, I brought two big jars of the stuff home and have already located a local source for more.)

Buenos Aires Tourist Tip: Want to bring some of the this sweet stuff back with you? Buy your dulce de leche in groceries or supermarkets. You'll save a lot of money over buying it a more tourist-oriented and gourmet outlets and have more brands and sizes to choose from. I do recommend not buying it in foil topped plastic tubs unless you really want to wash everything in your suitcase when you get home. I wrapped my jars in plastic bags and then in clothes. Worked just fine. Another tip: Declare to U.S. customs you have purchased food. They will x-ray your bag for forbidden fresh produce, etc., but if you don't declare you are bringing in your dulce, you could end up paying a fine. Plus they'll confiscate whatever you do bring in.