Dulce con Queso (Sweet with Cheese)

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to reader Pat O'Connor for sending us this:

My cousin will probably kill me for telling this story. Many years
ago my just married young cousin moved into an upstairs apartment and
invited some of her women friends over for the evening. She put out
snacks and then came out with a cake that looked like a disaster. She
apologized and said she didn't know what happened to the cake because,
she explained, "I even used the high altitude directions because I
live upstairs."

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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There really is no better way to end a good Uruguayan parrillada than
with this dessert. I have to confess that this is a reprint of a
recipe I originally published in 1999 as "Martin Fierro," the name the
dish goes by across the Rio de la Plata in Argentina. The quince
paste (dulce de membrillo) is by far the sweet most commonly served in
Uruguay, but guava paste does just as well. My father once hosted a
professional event in Buenos Aires and the restaurant that catered the
thing insisted that the typical dulce con queso was too pedestrian for
the crowd of business executives my father had assembled. Their
solution was to serve goat cheese with a dark cane syrup (miel de
cana, with the squiggly line over the "n"), which they viewed as much
more posh. The lesson there is that any sweetener may be used,
including honey, molasses, dark corn syrup, or maple syrup. Serve it
with any firm, sharp cheese that you like, and always buy the best
that your budget will allow.

Dulce con Queso (Sweet with Cheese)

Dulce de membrillo or guayabada*
Sharp cheese of your choice such as cheddar,
Spanish manchego, or goat cheese

Simply slice a small portion of the fruit paste and the cheese and
place them on a plate. Diners usually take a small amount of both the
cheese and the fruit paste together in one bite.

* Guayabada, or dulce de guayaba (guava paste) and dulce de membrillo
(quince paste) are easier to find in US supermarkets than they were a
few years ago. Also available in Hispanic specialty markets.
Received on Sat Dec 20 22:06:59 2003