Doce de leite

Text Rafael Tonon

The manufacture and consumption of doce de leite in Brazil resembles in many respects that of Fabrico Próprio confectionery in Portugal. Made at home but also in factories, this confection is deeply embedded in Brazilian culture, economy and taste – even though the best known international doce de leite, or dulce de leche, is from neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay. In Brazil, as in Portugal, creativity surpasses orthodoxy in the making of doce de leite, which results in countless versions of this simple but delicate junction between sugar and milk that range from milky pale to quasi-burnt caramel, from liquid to solid to cloudy. The brands, shapes and packaging that carry it also reveal the design of a product that just like Portuguese pastries can be homemade or industrial, but is above all semi-industrial. The manufacture and daily consumption of doce de leite can also be considered as a form of resistance to the inexorable advance of condensed milk and other highly processed products in the contemporary diet of Brazilian people, showing the complexity but also the dynamism of a country’s food and culture.

Text: Rafael Tonon