ARGENTINA - Wine and Chocolates in Mendoza

The area of Mendoza is famous throughout the world for the production of great quality Argentinian red wines especially Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.  There are hundreds of wineries around the region, producing wine mainly for export.

The growing of vines began with the Jesuits developing vinyards  in northern Argentina over 500 years ago, then with the arrival of the Spanish, French and Italian, all bringing with them their own varieties in the 19th century, the wine industry really took off.

Mendoza is a perfect area for vines due to a number of reasons – Sunshine - it’s pretty constant summer! It’s in a dry desert area with very little rainfall, so water is regulated and piped in from the snowmelt of the Andes.  Altitude – There are varying altitudes around Mendoza, with some grapes growing better at higher altitudes than others. Mendoza is between 900m and 1800m perfect for its Malbec! The final reason is the variance in temperature between night and day. Warm days encourage sugar production and allow the grapes to develop a nice thick skin, and the cool nights ensure good acidity levels.

With all those facts after touring round the wineries by bike, we had good chance to sample quite a few!!

A nice wee Rose with the vinyard's son.

The vines of Mendoza

We spent a great day cycling around the wineries of Chacras near Mendoza, and ended the day at a lovely little rustic chocolate shop - . The owner Nora grows all her own fruit, bakes her own cakes, jams and pickles, and makes chocolates (from her Swiss husband’s family recipes handed down through generations), and the highlights – home made Dulce de Leche and liqueurs.  Whilst we were there a real bad storm was brewing outside, blowing up dust and bringing down trees so Nora insisted we stay, and with a plate of chocolates and a glass of home made absynthe how could we refuse!

Nora’s Dulce de Leche - 4 hours hard work stirring milk and sugar  in her copper pot!

Some good strong absynthe after all those wines!

A great place to seek refuge from the storm!

Buying a jar of chocolate dulce de leche, which I’m hoping makes it to Australia for Christmas, Nora recommended making a caramel flan (like egg custard/crème caramel) with it which is popular to have on Christmas Day, so fingers crossed!

Meanwhile outside....!

Recipe for Flanes de Dulce de Leche
250g / 9 oz sugar 220g dulce de leche
50ml water 3 eggs
500ml milk 3 egg yolks
1. Place in a pan 150g (5oz) of the sugar and the water. Boil until dissolved into a caramel. Divide the liquid into the dishes and leave to cool.
2. Heat the milk along with the dulce de leche and half the remaining sugar (50g), stirring until dissolved, then remove from the heat before it boils.
3. Beat the eggs, yolks and the rest of the sugar, then pour on top the cool milk mixture without parting the mix ???? Check the Spanish translation!!
4. Colar ??? and separate into the dishes.
5. Place on a baking tray of hot water as a ban-marie and cover with foil.
6. Place in the oven at 170 C for 20 – 30 mins if separate dishes, or 40 – 50 mins if a large flan.
7. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve with caramelised nuts –
200g / 7oz nuts 100ml water
200g / 7oz sugar
1. Place the nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven (180C) for 5 mins.
2. Put the sugar and water in a pan and on the heat stir until a thick syrup is formed.
3. Remove from the heat and add the nuts.
4. Keeping of the heat, stir with a wooden spoon until the nuts are coated in the white sugar.
5. Serve along with the flan.

Camp Food
Just incase you think we’re doing a lot of fine dining in Argentina, this is how we normally eat – a tasty camp feast of noodle soup and crackers!!

camp kitchen

What a feast - super noodles, sausage, pasta sauce topped with cheese!!

ARGENTINA - Sweet toothed Argentinians

The Argentinians love their sweets!
Alfajores (which I thought were quite a novelty in Peru and Bolivia) are everywhere here. At first trying the different kinds was great, with versions of jam, Dulcce de leche, Oreo cookies, Milka chocolate, and ones smothered in milk, dark and white chocolate, however after many a 20 hour bus journey with alfajores for breakfast, they are starting to lose their appeal!!

shelves full of alfajores!

Nevertheless, here’s a recipe for some chocolate alfajores.

Double Chocolate Alfajores

Para las tapitas (For the biscuits):
150g / 5 oz softened butter/marg 4 tbsp milk
150g / 5 oz sugar 300g / 10.5 oz plain flour
2 eggs 1 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate Drop of vanilla essence

1. Cream together the butter & sugar.
2. Add the eggs one at a time continually beating.
3. Melt the chocolate.
4. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla extract and the milk to the mixture.
5. Lastly, add the flour and baking powder and stir together to form a dough.
6. Form in to a big ball and refrigerate for about an hour.
7. Roll out and cut into rounds of about 6cm.
8. Place on a baking tray and bake at 180 C for 8 – 10 mins.

Para el rello (for the filling):
200g 7 oz milk chocolate 100g 3.5 oz cream
1. Finely chop or grate the chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat up the cream and add the chocolate.
3. Leave to rest for 20 seconds, then mix together into a chocolate cream (or ganache).
4. Leave to chill for an hour, then pipe or spread onto the biscuit and sandwich 2 together.

Para la cobertura:
300g / 10.5 oz dark chocolate 50g / 1.5 oz butter
1. Melt together the chocolate and butter.
2. Spoon on a generous measure of chocolate and spread over the biscuit using a knife.
3. Leave to chill and set, and there you have it an indulgent Argentinian Alfajore!

The result should be like a round version of a Penguin biscuit!

ARGENTINA The Italians

The Italians

As well as the famed beef, and great wine, Argentina also has a huge Italian influence - bringing with it a love for pizza,  coffees and  ice cream. Sampled many a heladeria along the way!

This was the smallest one you could get!!!

Can't decide?? Just have two!!

Street food

Everywhere you looked in the North Western town of Salta were signs for Empanadas! A favourite snack for the local taxi drivers, the baked pasties filled with beef of cheese were delicious!

Empanadas and Tomales.

Around the World in 80 Cakes

Around the World in 80 Cakes.

Well, at long last I've got round to posting this, my own blog of our travels featuring the food (and especially the cakes) we sample along the way! As you may know I am partial to both eating & baking the odd cake, and whilst I am away travelling and not able to get into the kitchen myself, thought I'd like to track down the local delicacies, sampling them, and where possible collecting recipes so I can try  them out when I get home.

Please try them out if you like (and let me know if they work!), or if you have any recipes from the country's we visit (or anywhere else in the world!) please pass them on and I'll add them to  my list! My aim is to get 80 cakes from around the world by the time we get back, so here goes!!

BOLIVIA - Salt from Salar de Uyuni

Salt from Salar de Uyuni

One of the highlights of our trip so far has been the trip we took around the south west corner of Bolivia from the rocky wilderness of Tupiza to the Salar de Uyuni saltflats. We went through some of the most amazing scenery I have seen - snow capped mountains, golden deserts, lush oasis', bubbling mud geysers, smoking volcanoes, lagoons of green, white and even red, and wildlife - llamas, condors, flamngoes and chinchillas.
The salt flats of Uyuni are huge, covering an area of 2000 square km. Salt is manufactured from the salt flats, dried and packagedup for household use. Many of the buildings are built using solid salt bricks. This was one of the most unusual places we ate dinner!

Dining in the Salt hotel

No soft carpets in this hotel!

Porfidia's Queque de Naranja


On this trip we spent 4 days with Friederike  and Emily (from Germany and Australia), our guide Segundino and wonderful cook Porfedia. Porfedia fed us so well, conjuring up all sorts of goodies in the middle of the desert! The highlight of which was breakfast on our last morning, at the Island Huas (Isla del Pescado),

Porfedia had magically prepared us a beautiful heart shaped cake!!

Porfedia had magically prepared us a beautiful heart shaped cake!!

Recipe for Porfidia's Queque de Naranja (Orange cake)


1/2 kg Self raising flour
6 eggs
teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of oil
orange juice and zest from 1 orange

Mix together in a bowl, then pour into tin and bake on low oven (150) for about 20 - 25 minutes.

What a setting for breakfast!

Part of our staple diet in South America
Inca Kola

Our favourite South American sweet - Sublime bars

Porfedia - our favourite Bolivian cook!

BOLIVIA - Desserts in the desert

On our way to the  south , at an oldrailway junction town - Oruro we had time for a quick bite before getting on our 13 hour train journey to the 'Wild West' town of Tupiza (famous for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). We stepped past the armed security guard on the door to  a very grand restaurant - Nayjama.  We had a delicious meal here (very unexpected in this desert town!), Dean had the biggest piece of lamb you'ver ever seen!

High class dining in Oruro - Nayjama Restaurant

Also managed to pick up a few recipes for the local produce Quinoa.

QUINOA
Bolivia is the world's largest producer of the supergrain Quinoa. It's  grown in this part of the country due to it's ability to withstand semi arid deserts and the nightly frosts. Did you know Quinoa has 15% more protein than wheat and maize?


Flans
The Bolivians are very much in to flans as deserts. It's not what we would call a flan as in a sponge with fruit and jelly, but more like an egg custard/creme caramel type pudding. Nayjama had recipe cards on the back of their menu's for some of their specialities, so here they are. (Roughly translated from Spanish, so hope they're allright!)

Recipe for Flan de Quinoa

1 cup of evaporated milk

5 eggs

1 3/4 cups of granulated sugar

3/4 cup of ground quinoa (soaked and drained) 

drop of vanilla (if you like)

1. Caramelise 1 cup of sugar by allowing it to dissolve in a pan (until liquid) and pour in to the small dishes (or one large dish).

2. In a bowl, place the milk, eggs, quinoa, and remaining sugar, beat well until the sugar has dissolved.

3. Pour this mixture into the dishes, cover well with foil and place in  a shallow dish of temperate water (ban marie) in the oven at about 170 C for 45 mins – 1 hour or until set.

4. Chill completely in fridge.

5. To serve, either slice and spoon a little of the caramel sauce on top, or serve in individual dishes.

Quinoa albondigas (Meatballs)

1 cup of quinoa (cooked)

250g minced beef

2 eggs

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

Pinch of ground pepper and salt

Pinch of oregano

Roughly chopped parsley

Bread crumbs

Oil

1. In a bowl place the quinoa, mince, salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs and garlic and mix together. 

2. Beat the eggs and add to the mix with your hands.

3. Form in to balls and fry in hot oil.

4. Serve wth rice and a tomato sauce or salad.

For veggie alternative, just leave out the mince.

BOLIVIA - Llamas and Lemon Pies

And so onto the lesser known country of Boliva. We didn't know what to expect from this country and were just planning on passing through on route to Argentina. However, once we got there we really fell in love with the place. Some of the most spectacular scenery ranging from lush green jungles, to volcanoes, deserts and lagoons, the bustling city of La Paz, and some of the friendliest most humble people, living a very traditional quiet life in the high altitude of the Andes. Has to be one of the highlights so far!
And the food? Well, my trusty guidebook described piquante stews (alpaca and lama) . . .

Llama Stew anyone?

Sorry we did? We found an authentic curry house in La Paz (The Star of India)  and Dean indulged in a llama tikka masala.

Tarte de Limon

From the first few days in Bolivia, I’ve discovered they’ve got a bit of a thing about lemon pies! In may shop windows I’ve passed huge peaks of meringue tempting me! 

La Paz Lemon pies

Of course it was my duty to sample a few!

I found a recipe for Bolivian style Lemon meringue pie online. The main thing different about it and the version of lemon meringue pie we get at home is the addition of the South American favourite evaporated milk in the lemon bit making it much more creamy.

Recipe for Tarte Limon Bolivian style

Taken from the web site from http://www.food52.com/recipes/7384_lemon_meringue_tart_bolivian_style

Serves 8-12

2 14oz cans of sweet condensed milk 

4 eggs (whites and yolks separated)

1/2 cup lemon juice (note: do not use lime juice)

1/2 cup

1 unbaked pie crust

1 pinch lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In two small bowls, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Make sure there are no traces of yolk or egg shells in the egg whites.
   
   
2. In a medium bowl, mix the condensed milk and the 4 egg yolks. With the help of a hand mixer, slowly mix in the lemon juice until combined thoroughly. Pour this mixture on the pie crust and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
   
   
3. As the pie cooks, prepare the meringue. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until they become white and fluffy but you can still see some bubbles and a spongy texture. At that point slowly add in the sugar making sure the meringue is rising and becoming smoother. The way to check that meringue is ready is by turning off the hand mixer and lifting it slightly up from the mixture - if little peaks form and stay on your meringue, its done!
   
   
4. Remove the pie from the oven, and pour the meringue on top of filling mixture. Form little peaks with a fork on the meringue and sprinkle a pinch of lemon zest on top. Put the pie back in the oven. The pie is finished when the peaks have browned (~ 12 min but maybe less).
   
   
   Bolivian Cream cakes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Looking around the internet, I also found this web page for a recipe for Bolivian cream/fruit cake.

   
   

   en.allexperts.com/q/Spanish-Hispanic-Cuisine.../Bolivian-cakes.htm

   
   

   
   

   Pastel de Tres Leches

   Yield: About 8-10 servings

   
   

   INGREDIENTS PREP AMOUNT 

   Flour  1 1/2 cups 

   Baking powder  1 tsp 

      

   Butter, unsalted room temperature 1/2 cup, or 8 Tbsp 

   Sugar  1 cup     

   Eggs room temperature 5 each 

   Vanilla  1/2 tsp     

   Milk  1 cup 

   Milk, sweetened condensed  1 cup 

   Milk, evaporated  2/3 cup       

   Whipping cream   1 1/2 cups 

   Sugar   1/2 to 3/4 cups 

   Vanilla   1 tsp 

   
   

   METHOD

   Basic Steps:  Sift ¨ Cream ¨ Beat ¨ Fold ¨ Bake ¨ Soak ¨ Frost 

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 7"x11" baking pan. 

   Sift flour and baking powder together well. 

   Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed till light and fluffy. 

   On medium-low speed, add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Beat until foamy. 

   Remove bowl from mixer, and fold in flour to mix well. 

   Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes or till done. 

   Remove from oven and cool. Pierce cake all over with a fork, toothpick or skewer. Mix three milks together and pour over whole cake. 

   Refrigerate cake for 2-8 hours until liquid is absorbed and cake is chilled. 

   Beat the cream, sugar and vanilla together to make whipped cream. Frost the cake with the whipped cream and serve. 

   VARIATIONS

   Substitute coconut milk for the regular milk if you like. Scatter the frosting with coconut flakes. Add a touch of rum to the milks for even more tropical flavor. 

   If you would like a layer cake, divide the batter between 2 prepared round cake pans. For layer cakes, you can add a filling of fruit between layers. Try pineapple filling, peaches or bananas. Or any fruit you like.