Alfajores

We were supposed to visit the neighborhood of Puerto Madero today, but when we woke up it was raining, so we decided to wait til tomorrow (unless it's raining again).  We ended up mostly staying in, except to go out for rations.  We walked for awhile on a manhunt for a Mexican restaurant (Aaron needed his fix), but it was only 7pm and the one we found didn't open until 8pm (I told you they eat late here).  We passed by a strange buffet and thought "Hmm, what the heck?"  So we checked it out.

They had all kinds of stuff!  We loaded up our plates (didn't really try any of the weird stuff), but it turned out to be like most other buffets: disappointing.  Nothing was all that great.  Not to mention, it was pretty expensive ($25 for both of us).  We could have both gotten steaks at Don Julio's for that much!  That's my new gage for determining if something is worth the money or not.  If it's cheaper than a steak at Don Julio's then I'm okay with it, but if it's more and I don't have a party in my mouth, then it's a total waste.  No more buffets for us!

On the way home we stopped at a corner store (corner stores have snacks, candy and non-alcoholic drinks) and got some alfajores.  Alfajores are sandwich cookies with a filling in between (usually dulce de leche) and sometimes the entire thing is dipped in chocolate.  They are super popular in Argentina, almost like their official cookie.  There are tons of different brands and varieties.  So far, we have tried the original versions (chocolate dipped dulce de leche and white chocolate dipped dulce de leche) and they are fantastic!  Today I wanted to try some different varieties.  Here's what we got:

Number 1:

Dulce de leche and not covered in chocolate.

Number 2:

Looks similar to number 1.

Number 3:

Chocolate covered and filled with chocolate mousse.

Number 4:

White chocolate covered and filled with fruit.

I should mention that you can also buy a box of alfajores, but they usually don't come assorted.  It's just the normal flavors.  We've opted to just buy singles occasionally because if we bought a box, we'd each be crying in a corner with crumbs all over our faces within 30 seconds.  So here are our cookies:

We're going to do a taste test (I LOVE a good taste-test), so I cut them in quarters:

Woo Hoo!  I'm excited!  Nothing makes food more fun than taste-testing!  It combines my two favorite things: eating and critiquing!  What could be better?  (Yea, I should get a hobby).

The Verdict

Number 1:

Soft, crumbly cookie, lots of creamy dulce de leche filling with coconut around the outside.  Yum!

Number 2:

Lots of cookie and not much filling.  Aaron said it tasted like a dog biscuit.  Clear loser.

Number 3:

Chocolate coating was delish, cookie was crunchy, but good, however the mousse had a disappointing flavor.

Number 4:

White chocolate covering was good, cookie was crunchy, but good and the fruit filling was good.  I liked it and Aaron didn't.

Hands down winner was.....drumroll please....DDDRRRRRDRDRDDRDRDRDRR:

 NUMBER 1!!!

We like the dulce de leche filling and this had the most of it.  The cookie was soft and crumbly and most importantly, not overpowering.  It let the filling be the star.  Really though, let's be honest, if someone handed me ANY of these cookies, I'd scarf it in a heartbeat and love every second if it.  I could buy about 10 of them for the price of a steak and I'm feeling a party start to form in my mouth, so I can't complain.

Yes, you just witnessed a cookie taste-test.  Yes, this is the most productive thing I've done all day.  Yes, this is my life.