Marga's Foodblog

Alfajores are Argentina's unofficial national treat. An alfajor is basically a soft cookie with a sweet filling. The cookie is usually cakey, though in some versions it's phillo-like, and while traditional alfajores were filled with jam (quince jam is particularly popular), the most delicious Argentine alfajores have a dulce de leche filling. Some alfajores are covered, most typically with a powdered sugar or a dark chocolate bath, though many of the alfajores from the Northwest as well as many of new "alfajores artesanales" (i.e. the non-mass produced kind) are plain.

Several of the northern Argentine provinces have their own type of alfajores, and as during our trip to Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán and Córdoba we were able to sample some of the local fare.

As far as we could tell the alfajores from Salta and Tucumán were the same, small, with thick, dry, light colored cookies, apparently perfumed by anis seed, and a thick layer of filling. A traditional filling from these provinces is dulce de cayote, the cayote being a type of pumpkin. The alfajores are bathed in a sweet egg bath. We didn't really like them much, even those with a dulce de leche filling. They were OK, but not nearly as good as other alfajores. As far as I remember the alfajores from Tucumán were very similar, and also not remarkable.

We enjoyed the alfajores in Córdoba more. These have a spongier cookie and a sweet bath, they are a bit larger than their northwestern neighbors, though also offered in a variety of fruit fillings. We only tried the dulce de leche, though. Alfajores are big business in Córdoba and we found dozens of brands for sale. At least two brands have their own stores, where they sell a variety of their own products. We probably tried about a dozen different brands (I was in the search for the best alfajor), and we decided that those from La Quinta were by far the most yummy. Alas, we tried those at their store in Carlos Paz and weren't able to buy any before we left (not available at the bus station in Córdoba, FYI).

At La Quinta we also tried their alfajore santafesino, in the style of the province of Santa Fe. This one had a phillo type cookie and, while messy, was also delicious. We later found out that other national brands have this style of alfajores though we didn't find any we liked as much.

The most famous alfajores in the whole country, however, are those made by Havanna in Mar del Plata. Mar del Plata is a city in the Atlantic coast visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists during the summer. Historically few would leave without taking some boxes of Havanna alfajores. These alfajores are in the style of the typical commercial alfajores, with a very cakey cookie, dulce de leche filling (though they've also always had quince jam and lately they have a number of mousse fillings) and either a powdered sugar or dark chocolate cover. But they are the best. Don't ask me why, but they are just the yummiest.

In the last few years Havanna has developed competition from seemingly dozens of other brands, both commercial and artesanales, based all over Buenos Aires province. Many of these have stores both in Mar del Plata and other cities in the Atlantic coast. During our trip to the area we made it a point to try as many as possible, hoping to find one we liked more than Havanna. We didn't. In a way this is fortunate, as Havanna now has stores all over the country and at the airport (but if you are flying American don't count on being able to do any shopping at the airport, no matter how early you get there - they arrange their counter lines so you have to spend hours in line and can only make it to the counter right before your plane leaves), though I'd have liked to find an alfajor I liked more that came from a smaller producer.

In addition to specialty producers, the large cookie companies also produce alfajores. These are mostly sold at kiosks and supermarkets and they really can't compare in quality either with Havanna or the other specialty producers. Perhaps for that reason most of them seem to have branched out from traditional dulce de leche fillings to mousse fillings in a variety of flavors. They didn't really appeal to me.

Many of the specialty producers also sell "conitos" in addition to alfajores. The conitos are their version of Havannets (see pictures) - cookies covered by a mountain of dulce de leche and dipped in dark or whie chocolate - and they are delicious. Of course I tried them at many places and though these were generally excellent I still prefer Havannets.

Havanna alfajores are available at some Latin stores in the US, if you see them by all means give them a try.