I am reading: We are almost in full spring and even though I started sowing seeds super late, this article from Saveur magazine about the potential of seeds made me smile and think about how our garden might look this summer.
I am listening to: An episode of Maintenace Phase which talks about The great protein fiasco. It’s amazing! They talk about the rise and fall of protein as a tool for international development, but always with loads of laughs.
This week I am writing about sweet condensed milk, which is everywhere in Latin America and is a predominant ingredient in many desserts. I don’t use it much besides making dulce de leche or brigadeiros every once in a while. As a kid I wasn’t a fan, that might not mean a lot if you are not Latin, but condensed milk has a big place in our community. I believe I am not wrong if I say that almost every kitchen in Latin America has a can in its cupboard. While researching to write about this subject, I wasn’t surprised to learn that colonisation had a lot to do with our obsession with sweet creamy milk in a can. It is hard to explain the relationship people have with it in Latin America, but it is a part of us. This clip of Machuca, a movie that touches the dictatorship in Chile through the lens of an 11-year-old, has an infamous kiss scene that might reflect our love for it without words.
Sweetened condensed milk and its unsweetened cousin, evaporated milk, have never been popular among food snobs. Originally, these were marketed as nutritional solutions, not luxury ingredients. If fresh milk was available then, consumers would have preferred it. This is probably why it became so popular in certain parts of the world, mostly in places where fresh milk wasn’t always available, like Latin America or places in Asia. Condensed milk was conceived to be preserved, therefore the sugar addition, to remain shelve stable when refrigeration didn’t exist. In hotter regions of the world, where dairy-making might be difficult, expensive or untraditional, the stability and reliable sweetness of condensed milk has earned a lot of fans. You have to bear in mind that the first cow in America arrived with Cristobal Colón. Before colonisation, indigenous people did not drink cow’s milk as part of their diet.
The process of condensation was invented in France in 1820 by Nicolas Appert. Later, in 1853, Gail Borden began experimenting with sterilized milk after a series of “swill milk” scandals that revealed that milk in the US contained chalk powder1. He vacuumed the milk and added sugar, making it last for years. Mr. Borden made his fortune supplying condensed milk to the Union Army in the US Civil War and later it was airlifted into Berlin in the 1940s and crossed world borders.
To understand how sweetened condensed milk became a prominent ingredient across Latin America, it’s essential to look back at its origins.
As most food stories, the story of condensed milk in Latin America involves colonisation and globalisation. Mathilde Cohen calls it Milk Colonialism. She explains how the European colonization of Latin America introduced milk to the region in the 16th century. It also introduced the idea that milk constituted a part of healthy diets and healthy workforces.2
In the 18th century, an increase in demand for female labour brought the idea that cow’s milk could help replace breastfeeding and condensed milk was marketed as a nutritious solution for healthy babies and kids.
Merisa S. Thompson’s article “Milk and the Motherland?” details how, in 1914, Nestlé stepped in with sweetened condensed milk to “curb adulteration and improve the sanitary quality of milk.” At this time, Nestlé set up a trading agency in Spain to distribute Nestlé-manufactured condensed milk in the Caribbean. By 1921, Nestlé developed La Lechera, marketing the new sweetened condensed milk brand to markets in Latin America.
For me it’s hard to get past this when I think of ingredients, as Wendell Berry so eloquently puts it “eating is an agricultural act” and may I add, a cultural act. Therefore, I consider it important to know how ingredients came to be part of our diets. Embracing the good and the bad. Sweet Condensed milk has a colonialist past but it is already part of us, we, Latinos, love sweet creamy milk in a can, so let us embrace it, but acknowledge its colonial past. Undeniably, it is a star ingredient in our kitchens. It doesn’t curdle like fresh milk or butter, making it a great addition to lemon pies. It is a perfect emulsifier and prevents crystallisation when making ice creams without a machine. And, let us not forget… the infamous dulce de leche.
Brigadeiros and the uses of condensed milk
Fudge made from condensed milk is the base for brigadeiros, bite-size sweets served in paper frills and covered with sprinkles. Brigadeiros are like the cupcakes of Brazil, always present in celebrations. Brigadeiros are named for a once-popular politician, Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, who ran for president in 1945 under the slogan “Vote no brigadeiro, que é bonito e é solteiro” (“Vote for the brigadier, who’s good-looking and single.”). He didn’t win the election (shocking after that slogan). However, brigadeiros became popular and are a big part of Brazilian cuisine.
Chocolate Brigadeiros recipe
Ingredients
1 can of condensed milk (395 grs)
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