Mmmm...dulces

So dessert turns out to be very important for Uruguayans. Last night at the Asado we had chocolate ice cream, neopolitan ice cream and a rolled wafer stuck in both. Then Sonia passed around 'salsas', varieties of syrup...you know, just in case your sugar intake wasn't quite high enough.

I passed even on the dulce de leche syrup, even though it's completely delicious (Mom, you'll be happy to know my first night in town I enjoyed a flan with a huge dollup of dulce de leche - it was so rich I couldn't actually finish it). It was delicious anyway.

Tonight we dined with three Australians/New Zealanders. Talk about random. They were in town on a tour of forested sites and are going to Chile next after tonight. After all day acclimating myself to hear Juliana's and Sonia's Spanish, I had to switch during dinner to hear through the thick Australian accents.

We enjoyed a dinner of chicken stew in a slightly sweet almost curry like sauce. It was served with mashed potatoes, and of course we had a salad with the meal. This one consisted of sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and sliced hearts of palm. I hadn't had this before, and it's pretty good. This was probably the best meal I've had so far, and exactly what I was hoping for down here. It was simpler than the food in restaurants and more satisfying somehow. Also, it was nice to not have beef or a change.

Tonight's dessert was mouthwatering (and I'm sure that had nothing to do with the 2 bottles of Tannat wine we opened during dinner). We had a lemon mousse type dessert, complete with lemon peel, on top of fresh strawberries. This was awesome - and so completely simple. I will totally be replicating it at home. I'm sure some of you will be getting sick of coming over to eat "all the wonderful dishes from Uruguay...". I promise I'll stop bragging soon.