My roommate Madelaine and I “skipped” Thanksgiving this year and instead spent the last week of November in the Chile portion of the Patagonia, backpacking the “W” circuit in Torres del Paine. We decided to bring our own tents and sleeping equipment, so we could fully appreciate the sights and sounds of this beautiful place. We got caught in heavy rain on our trek from Las Torres to El Paine Grande (with a pit stop in Los Cuernos), but the sky would clear every few hours, and all the blues and greens would re-emerge.
Instead of the usual Thanksgiving staples, Madelaine and I subsisted almost exclusively on granola bars, peanut butter, and an occasional hot meal served in los refugios (or shelters). I’ll be honest and say I didn’t mind it at all -- it’s well worth the culinary monotony to unplug and spend some quality time outdoors. Among the most rewarding parts of the trip was meeting other trekkers along the way, from those on vacation for a week (like ourselves) to those hiking their way through South America for the next few months. We’re hopeful a couple of them will reach out the next time they’re in New York.
Despite spending most of our time in Chile, we flew through Argentina on our way out to attend a wedding celebration in Buenos Aires. We spent 2 nights in the country’s capital, where we were finally able to shower, shave, and begin returning to our normal diets. Despite being pescetarians in a country famous for its grilled meats, Madelaine and I found plenty to eat.
When it comes to sweets, Argentinians love dulce de leche and consume this decadent sweet in much the same way that Americans enjoy peanut butter. It’s commonly served on breakfast toast, but it’s also a popular ingredient in cakes, pies, pastries, and ice cream. While it’s similar to peanut butter in terms of popularity, most Americans would compare the flavor profile and consistency of dulce de leche to that of caramel. At first glance, you might even think they’re one of the same, but their translations alone hint at the biggest difference between the two. “Caramel” translates to “burnt sugar” in French, while “dulce de leche” is “sweetened milk” in Spanish.
Pictured above are alfajores, a popular Latin American cookie. To make these, sandwich a generous layer of dulce de leche between two crumbly shortbread cookies, and then roll them in sweetened coconut. True to its name, the most straightforward way to make dulce de leche is to heat a can of sweetened condensed milk (after peeling off the label) for 2 to 3 hours in a pot of simmering water.
These little treats, usually 5 cm in diameter at most, were a hit at our apartment’s annual holiday brunch. Plus, it was a great way to share a part of our Thanksgiving adventure with friends back home.
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