MAYBE IT WAS ALL AN ACCIDENT; AT LEAST, THAT IS THE LEGEND. From the sweltering shores of the Dominican Republic and Cuba, to the furthest frozen reaches of Chile and Argentina, many Latin nations claim some relation to dulce de leche.
The seemingly simple concoction of boiled milk and sugar has taken on many variations over the centuries—much as the Spanish language has been twisted and turned like taffy since arriving from Spain.
But not only the Spanish-speaking world is enamored of ‘sweet milk’: France calls it confiture de lait, and Brazil calls it doce de leite, and it has its variations in Norway, Russia, and around the world. Apparently, boiling milk down to a sweet, spreadable essence is a global talent.
Argentina has some of the strongest emotional and historical ties to dulce de leche, claiming its invention on an early colonial rancho when a servant for president Juan Manuel de Rosas simply let the boiled milk treat (lechada) cook for too long, and returned to a pot full of sticky, golden-brown paste—which, by the way, tasted delicious. A happy accident became a national obsession, and today supermarket aisles in Argentina are full of the stuff. The government even claimed it officially as part of its cultural and gastronomic heritage (patrimonio) in 2003.
Yet, as with all food, the best is still made at home, by hand, and is a source of great familial pride, with recipes passed down over generations. Watching over the stove, stirring by hand, and adding a pinch or finger-full of that magical maternal secret—that’s what cooking, especially dulce de leche, is all about.