Que Bonito! Evaporated Milk

It's not Monday but I've decided to post this Nice Thing about Peru all the same. Enjoy:

Something I'm going to bring back to my life in the states is my new-found love for canned evaporated milk. In America, I usually had a forgotten can banging around in the back of the pantry or I'd grab one for whipping up pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.  Here in Ollantaytambo, and lots of other parts of Peru, refrigeration is uncommon and therefore canned milk is all the rage and it has truly become a part of my cooking habits. 

"For what can you use evaporated milk?" you might ask.  Or even more (im)pertinently, "Is there anything that would actually be better with canned milk instead of fresh?"  Well, of course there are concerns about loss of nutritional value through over-processing and the addition of preservatives and other things but compared to the ultrapasteurized and homogenized "fresh" milks you find in conventional supermarkets in the U.S., I don't feel like the evaporated stuff is necessarily any worse. It has a creamier texture and richer, sweeter flavor that makes it perfect for some uses though it will never taste as fresh as it's former unprocessed self, obviously. Still, sometimes you can't beat the convenience of a can.

You've got your pick between the classic design of the Gloria can and the creepy anthropomorphism of Pura Vida's cow mascot. Please see the close up above to fully appreciate that bovine come-hither stare.

I like evaporated milk when mixing up pancakes. It doesn't have the acidic oomph of buttermilk (did you know the acid reacting with the baking soda is what makes the flapjacks extra fluffy?  It's science...) but can add great flavor in a pinch. When using evaporated milk in a recipe, you can water it down by half for a more conventional milky texture or use it as-is for extra creaminess.  This is especially great in puddings or, here in Peru, arroz con leche:  a super-sweet rice pudding.

 Most of the time I'm simply cracking open a can to drizzle in my coffee. Evaporated milk has a sweeter flavor because the natural lactose in the milk is concentrated (and also because I think they add sugar to it). A cup of thick, sweet stove-top espresso with canned milk is an entirely different animal from a mug of french press with fresh cream, but it's an animal I've come to love all the same.