flipCafé con leche y medialunas
Café con leche y medialunas
Why this dish? The cafés of Buenos Aires were Gardel's second living room: he composed, discussed, and listened to tango there. Café con leche accompanied by *medialunas* (small syrup-glazed croissants) is the iconic snack of those counters where the singer spent hours with his lyricists and friends.
A steaming café con leche served with medialunas, those Argentine pastries denser and sweeter than French croissants, glazed with a light syrup. It is the ritual mid-afternoon break, taken standing at the counter or seated by the street.
Waiter, two café con leche and some nice fresh medialunas! Come, sit by the window, this is where we work best, me and my lyricist — between sips, a rhyme falls on you. The medialunas, you dip them a bit in the coffee, just the tip, so the syrup melts on your tongue. At this table, old pal, I've seen more than one tango born; the Buenos Aires café is our real school.
- •Strong coffee — one cup (drink)
- •Hot milk — equal parts (drink)
- •Butter puff pastry dough — for the medialunas (pastry)
- •Sugar, water (syrup) — for glazing (finish)
Café con leche y medialunas
A steaming café con leche served with medialunas, those Argentine pastries denser and sweeter than French croissants, glazed with a light syrup. It is the ritual mid-afternoon break, taken standing at the counter or seated by the street.
Why this dish? The cafés of Buenos Aires were Gardel's second living room: he composed, discussed, and listened to tango there. Café con leche accompanied by *medialunas* (small syrup-glazed croissants) is the iconic snack of those counters where the singer spent hours with his lyricists and friends.
Waiter, two café con leche and some nice fresh medialunas! Come, sit by the window, this is where we work best, me and my lyricist — between sips, a rhyme falls on you. The medialunas, you dip them a bit in the coffee, just the tip, so the syrup melts on your tongue. At this table, old pal, I've seen more than one tango born; the Buenos Aires café is our real school.
Ingredients (period version)
- Strong coffee — one cup (drink)
- Hot milk — equal parts (drink)
- Butter puff pastry dough — for the medialunas (pastry)
- Sugar, water (syrup) — for glazing (finish)
Ingredients
- Espresso or strong brewed coffee — 4 cups (drink)
- Milk — 40 cl (drink)
- Medialunas (store-bought or homemade butter puff pastry) — 8 (pastry)
- Sugar — 100 g (glaze syrup)
- Water — 10 cl (glaze syrup)
Method
- If making medialunas from scratch: shape small croissants from butter puff pastry dough, let rise, then bake until golden.
- Prepare a light syrup by bringing sugar and water to a boil for one minute.
- Brush the hot medialunas with syrup to give them their characteristic shine.
- Heat the milk without boiling and combine it in equal parts with the strong coffee.
- Serve the café con leche very hot with the warm medialunas.
How it was made : The medialuna is a heritage of European pastries adapted to Argentine taste from the late 19th century: smaller, softer, and glazed with syrup. In Gardel's time, the great cafés-confiterías on Corrientes Avenue and downtown were places of creation and socializing where musicians, poets, and night owls gathered around this duo of coffee and medialunas.
The contemporary twist : Present the medialunas in a vintage metal basket with the café con leche served in a large thick cup, in the style of a historic Buenos Aires confitería.
Carlos Gardel · Charactorium
