Dulce de Leche: Technology, Quality, and Consumer Aspects of the Traditional Milk Caramel of South America

Abstract

The term 'traditional' should indicate a food in which broad-sense knowledge is transmitted across generations. Intrinsic characters of true-sense traditional foods are variability, evolution, and direct perception of food values. Modern supply chains call for standardization and emphasize proprietary labels and communicable quality characters. As a consequence, the traditional food concept is presently subject to an effort of definition, mainly addressed at the commercial exploitation of traditional-like foods. Some aspects of these contrasting traditional food definitions and perceptions are hereafter discussed, in the perspective of a coexistence of traditional or traditional-like food supply systems of different scales.