In Argentina we are passionate about four things:
Fútbol…
Asado…
Tango…
and
(drum roll…)
................ dulce de leche.
So much so that back in 2003, Argentina attempted to declare dulce de leche (literally meaning sweet milk) their own national product. Uruguay raised their hand with great irritation and fought to stop the UNESCO declaration of dulce de leche being strictly Argentinean; based on the claim that they have been making it for as long as Argentinians have and see it as a valuable part of their economy.
A long – and not so sweet story short – the “possessor” of dulce de leche remains uncertain.
Truth is that almost every country in Latin America has some kind of version of sweet milk. Whether it’s named Arequipe, Manjar or something else, this fantastic concoction of milk and sugar can be found in various desserts (alfajores or panaqueque de dulce de leche), cakes, tartes and ice creams around Latin America (and even Spain) and is an integral part of everyone’s culture and cuisine.
Here in Germany we know it simply as Karamell.
Our Dulce de Leche // Caramel (or Karamell des Hauses) is one of our most popular of our 12 true flavors…
Inspiration for this flavor came from our many travels through Latin America and my childhood in Argentina.
Before opening the shop, we tested several commercial caramel brands. A lot of fellow chefs told us to just boil cans of condensed milk. We tried and we tested. But, we weren’t happy with the end result or the process. Something about boiling a can of condensed milk doesn't sit well with us.
So we resorted to the best version we know – based on a family recipe from Argentina (my uncle was a dairy farmer which explains not only my love for cows but also for pure ice cream).
Once a week, we spend 5 or 6 patient hours slowly cooking caramel right here in our Eislabor with nothing but the basic best ingredients: whole organic milk, sugar, Madagascan vanilla…
(People buying ice cream in the mornings often ask “what is that wonderful smell? it smells like reismilch cooking?”)
And that – my friends – is our dulce de leche // Caramel ice cream!