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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Trader Joe's Dulce de Leche

Trader Joe's is in the business of selling exotic caramels. And we're in the business of reviewing them. Some time ago, Russ and Sandy checked out the Fleur de Sel Sauce. It's French for "flower of salt." And this Latin American-inspired treat is Spanish for "sweet of milk." Do all foreign caramels have goofy translations? Do the Japanese offer a delectable topping called "All Your Base Are Belong To Us Sauce"? If so, I'd like to try it. FYI, "Pumpkin Caramel Sauce" is 'Murican for "don't feel guilty you just bought a jar of pure sugar because there's a vegetable in the title."

This sauce is thick and creamy. Even after warming it in the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds, it maintains its heavy yet smooth consistency. It reminds Sonia of a uniquely-Mexican treat called "cajeta," another foreign word which lends itself to several colorful translations. It's caramelly, sweet, and blends perfectly with vanilla ice cream, similar to TJ's other jars of sauce.

Sonia liked this the best of any topping-type confection we've seen from TJ's to date. She gives it a surprisingly high 4.5 stars. I don't think it's head and shoulders above any of the other caramel products we've sampled, but I certainly didn't mind eating it, and I can tell it's a quality product. 3.5 stars from me. If you're into thick, creamy caramel, you can't go wrong with this stuff.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.
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8 comments:

  1. Kalei's Best FriendFebruary 10, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    I used the Fleur de Sel one one brownies.. wow it brought the sweetness over the top... a bit too much for me- not sayin it was bad, my taste is just a bit sensitive to sweet.

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  2. Lucía LeguizamónFebruary 11, 2015 at 2:35 AM

    Dulce de leche is from Argentina. I am from Argentina and let me tell you, this is AWFUL. If you want to try the real dulce de leche, try some argentine brand. This has nothing to do with the real taste.

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    Replies
    1. Bora BoraApril 13, 2017 at 12:05 AM

      where can I get the good stuff? am in NYC. Thanks

      Delete
  3. bwaybabsFebruary 16, 2015 at 9:31 PM

    This...isn't dulce de leche. I feel like I can't judge this product fairly, because I was expecting it to be something it wasn't. What it is...is false advertising. Wish I read the ingredients before I bought it. Dulce de leche is basically cooked condensed milk. Not this stuff.

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  4. sudopeopleFebruary 20, 2015 at 5:53 PM

    "Sweet of milk" is a pretty bad bastard of a translation. A better translation to English would be milk candy, of if you want to stick a little closer to the specific words, you could say milk sweets.

    Adjectives preempt in English, whereas the majority of languages use trailing adjectives. Not matching the language's adjective timing is a translation error. In Spanish, "de" is used as a possessive so simply replacing it with the seldom used possessive "of" is pretty absurd. Word for word translations seldom make sense when going between Germanic languages and Latin languages.

    So to answer your question: "Do all foreign caramels have goofy translations?" Well, when they're translated poorly, I'm sure they do end up sounding goofy. If you don't want them to sound goofy, stop making them sound that way ;)

    For the record, the ingredient list is basically a can of sweetened condensed milk with some vanilla extract. You can make this for 75¢ by boiling a can of milk in water. It was all the rage a couple years ago. Throw in some vanilla if you're feeling kinky.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 23, 2017 at 3:53 PM

    Just like Lucia, I'm from Argentina the land of the "Dulce de Leche",, this stuff (that is what it is, STUFF) is not dulce de leche,, just read the ingredients, pathetic,, Trader joes has great wines, cheese, breads and more,, but please unload all this stuff ASAP and start buying your D. de leche from Argentina....

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  6. PatagonJuly 30, 2017 at 12:25 AM

    This is a good product, much better than most of the argentinean dulce de leche (especially the most liquid ones).

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