Chocolate - Other flavours
Chocolate Fondue in Bariloche, Patagonia
Chocolate Fondue
Something sweet is a must on the Patagonian table. In Bariloche, chocolate has an outstanding place, accompanying desserts or in fondues. As for the latter, we would like to tell you a nice historical anecdote.
In 1966, more than a hundred journalists were invited to a press conference that included lunch at the Plaza Hotel in New York. To start with, a cheese fondue was served; then came a beef fondue ("the Bourguignonne") as main course, and to their surprise, a "Toblerone" fondue was served for dessert.
Piping-hot melted bars of chocolate were bubbling in ceramic bowls, with honey and almonds. The hosts also served some pieces of bread, biscuits and dried fruits to dip into de chocolate. The fashion spread and arrived in Switzerland, the land of fondues, in 1967.
Chocolate and homemade jams
Bariloche is famous for the varieties of chocolates it offers. They come in branches, stuffed, bitter, with milk, with sugar, with almonds, with chocolate mousse, with regional jams, with milk jams, and in many more different variations to suit all tastes.
Handmade chocolate sweets are worth mentioning as well, especially the ones made with a cherry and liquor wrapped in chocolate. The two main ingredients with which chocolate is made are high in calories: sugar and fat.
Chocolate and homemade jams
The cocoa , as a raw material, contains starch and fiber, which get more diluted at the end of the process. In the case of black chocolate and powder cocoa, the quantity of minerals is reduced when mixed with other ingredients, whereas chocolate with milk and white chocolate are enriched because they contribute some calcium. Cocoa also contains a high percent of proteins. To sum up, it is a highly energetic food.
At the same time, homemade jams are great to accompany breakfast or tea-time. Our region is famous for its rose-hip jam (Rosa Eglanteria) which is made with the fruits that this thorny wild bush gives. The plant is originally from Europe but it grows wildly in Chile as well as in Argentina. The oil extracted from its seeds is used in the cosmetics industry. You can also have a tasting of other jams such as the ones made with elderberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawberries or raspberries. All Patagonian jams go through a homemade process and can be bought in jam stores and supermarkets. They are very healthy since they do not contain chemical ingredients. They can also prove to be a good gift to treat someone when you are back home.
