Argentina’s Sweet Tooth

You are here in Buenos Aires. You came to see the city, get to know the culture, dance a little tango and try new food, right? But by now you might have already tried the beef, the empanadas and the alfajores. What are you going to do now? Don’t fear, dear reader, for here I present you a list of the best local sweet treats so that you can continue discovering new munchies. There are still tons to explore for your taste buds!

In this first part, I’m going to introduce you to all those that have some kind of chocolate component in them:

Biznikke navado – A delicious marbled chocolate bar with a chocolate cookie center.

Bon o Bon – “Filled with emotions” is the popular slogan for these chocolate bonbons. But of course, the filling is not emotions (duh) it’s actually peanut butter inside a round crunchy wafer.

There are different flavors available, like the original chocolate, white chocolate, mousse and dark chocolate. Random fact: In 1989, Arcor, Bon o Bon’s distributor, made the first week of July “la semana de la dulzura” (the Sweetness Week) as a marketing ploy. People were encouraged to trade a Bon o Bon for a kiss and the ‘tradition’ did catch on. To this day, we often buy a Bon o Bon for a friend or lover during that week.

Bocadito Cabsha – Traditional Argentine semi-sweet chocolate-covered bonbon made out of a wafer cup filled with dulce de leche. A perfect bite-size sweet treat!

Bananita Dolca – It’s a banana-shaped chocolate shell stuffed with banana-flavored filling. If you like bananas, you’d love it because it’s delicious! You might even find Bananita Dolca ice cream flavor in some heladerias (ice cream parlors).

Tita y Rhodesia – These are no doubt one of the most traditional and emblematic snacks at the Argentine kioskos (kiosks). You cannot find them there. Titas is a chocolate-covered sandwich of two vanilla cookies with a soft, sweet lemon filling. Rhodesias are made out of three thin and crunchy wafers separated by two layers of a similar lemon paste to the one in Titas, and then, also chocolate covered.

Mantecol – This soft marbled peanut butter and cacao nougat is also another super traditional snack that it’s pretty much considered as the national snack. You can find them all year-round in every kiosko but Argentines consume it mostly at Christmas time. Christmas is not complete without it.