Foodie Friday- Alfajores

Finally, DESSERT! We’ve been searching for a yummy dessert all over South America. Pronounced “alpha-whores” the first time I heard their name I had to ask the person to repeat it again in disbelief. Even now when I ask for them in a store I sort of giggle to myself, thankful that no one around me speaks English. Danny however likes to ask for his “first prostitute” when getting a bit hungry.

There probably isn’t anything we’ve had more often in Argentina than Alfajores, a cookie treat. A cookie sandwich, Alfajores are a dessert we had never heard of but now can’t get away from. Generally covered in chocolate, the most traditional filling is dulce de leche (sort of like caramel), but they come with every kind of fruit jelly, jam or chocolate cream you can think of, and they’re all pretty good. The wrappers say “dulce” to describe the sweet ones, but honestly these things are so full of sugar you can get a toothache eating more than one of them (unless of course you are Danny who likes to eat as many as he can!).

Alfajores are found all over South America, and apparently Mexico although we didn’t run into them until Argentina. Here they are so common that they’re often served as a snack on the bus and as an artesanal delight in expensive giftshops and dulcerias. Some of the fancy ones have neat chocolate designs or nuts on the top (and usually a thicker chocolate coating), but even the grocery store pre-packaged varieties are yummy. My favorite are the fruit filled ones while Danny prefers the dulce de leche ones.

According to the locals, Alfajores are different in each part of the country, and a source of local pride, but honestly I’ve found them to be very similar everywhere we go. The most famous varieties seem to come from Cordoba, but we’ve sampled them all over the country, from north to south, and trust me, they’re all delicious!!