# How do you pronounce "Dulce de Leche"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960 "2005-02-14T03:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/1 "2005-02-14T03:12:10Z")
A great flavor of ice cream to be sure, but I always feel unsure telling someone it is one of my favorites, because I have no idea how it is pronounced. Please eliminate my ignorance so that I may spread the good news about this heavenly treat. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/2 "2005-02-14T03:15:25Z")
I don’t know, but allow me to make a guess. DOOL-chay duh LEH-chay. Well? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/3 "2005-02-14T03:22:23Z")
DOOL-say day LEH-CHAY. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/4 "2005-02-14T03:23:24Z")
**Vision of Love** ’s is probably more… Italian, I suppose. I answered my first GQ question! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/5 "2005-02-14T03:26:09Z")
> [@Vision of Love](#): > > I don’t know, but allow me to make a guess. > > DOOL-chay duh LEH-chay. > > Well? 🙂 Wrong. Why would you want to guess if you don’t know? Approximately, DOOL-say day LAY-chay. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/6 "2005-02-14T03:36:16Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Wrong. Why would you want to guess if you don’t know? > > Approximately, DOOL-say day LAY-chay. I thought I had a good chance at getting it right. I should also mention that for a minute, I thought I was in Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/7 "2005-02-14T03:55:28Z")
DOOL-say day LEH-che ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/8 "2005-02-14T04:33:25Z")
If you want it in Castillian style, it would be DOOL-theh dheh LEH-cheh (“th” as in “_th_ing,” “dh” as the “th” in “_th_en”). In Italian, “ch” is pronounced as “k.” “Chiaro” would be pronounced as “kyah-roh” or “kee-ah-roh” or something in between. Having “c” before “e” or “i” renders “c” as “ch” in English, therefore an “h” is added as a buffer between “c” and the vowel to preserve the “k” sound. So, according to Italian pronunciation, “dulce de leche” would be “DOOL-cheh deh LEH-keh.” WRS ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/9 "2005-02-14T04:48:54Z")
Except that in Italian it would be Dólce di Latte. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/10 "2005-02-14T07:18:43Z")
> [@Vision of Love](#): > > I don’t know, but allow me to make a guess. > > DOOL-chay duh LEH-chay. > > Well? 🙂 It’s not Italian, it is Spanish, and actually it’s a popular confection in Mexico. So, it is: /'dulse De 'letSe/ OR /'dulTe De 'letSe/ or roughly: DOOL-seh theh LEH-cheh _OR_ DOOL-theh theh LEH-cheh the “theh”'s initial th is pronounced as in “the” ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/11 "2005-02-14T07:57:55Z")
I pronounce it like [this](http://www.msnusers.com/turkmike/Documents/Dulce%20de%20Leche.wav), but I’m not very good at spoken Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/12 "2005-02-14T10:46:32Z")
> [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](#): > > A great flavor of ice cream to be sure, but I always feel unsure telling someone it is one of my favorites, because I have no idea how it is pronounced. Please eliminate my ignorance so that I may spread the good news about this heavenly treat. Oh, you´ve found the pure, destilled joy of Dulce the Leche, the desideratum of goodness and sweetness. A bakery in front of my work makes some wicked corissants filled with it. By the way, it´s under dispute whether the thing was invented here or in Argentina, the matter has sparked some heated debates. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/13 "2005-02-14T12:37:08Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Oh, you´ve found the pure, destilled joy of Dulce the Leche, the desideratum of goodness and sweetness. A bakery in front of my work makes some wicked corissants filled with it. > > By the way, it´s under dispute whether the thing was invented here or in Argentina, the matter has sparked some heated debates. 🙂 Cool background informations, thanks. Could you give the translation? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/14 "2005-02-14T12:46:48Z")
Dulce De Leche Con Mango is even better. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/15 "2005-02-14T13:35:16Z")
> [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](#): > > Could you give the translation? Dulce = sweet, leche = milk. Literally, a sweet made of milk. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/16 "2005-02-14T22:05:08Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Dulce = sweet, leche = milk. Literally, a sweet made of milk. Yes, Milk Sweet, and it´s quite easy, although time consuming to do. First method, traditional style: 3 liters of whole milk 800 grames of sugar a pinch or two of vanilla, maybe more depending on your preferences 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate Dump all that on a pot and boil it to medium heath stirring it constantly, after about **three hours** it should have it´s characteristic brown colour and consistency; take samples off the pot and let them cool to see if it´s OK. The modern way: Get a can of condensed milk, take the label off and put it to boil inside a pot full of water (you may want not to close the can hermetically, let´s say that milk sweet is not a good kitchen paint) As I said, put it to heat and when the water boils reduce the flame a bit to kep it boiling steadly, let it cook for an hour and it should be done. I should point out that I actually never tried this myself; being much easier to simply walk to the supermarket and buing the thing. But I guess it could be handy to those unfortunate people that don´t have access to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/17 "2005-02-14T23:24:06Z")
> [@WeRSauron](#): > > If you want it in Castillian style, it would be DOOL-theh dheh LEH-cheh (“th” as in “_th_ing,” “dh” as the “th” in “_th_en”). Is Dulce de Leche a Spanish treat as well? Being of Mexican heritege, I am only familiar with it being a Mexican treat. Pronouncing it with the Castillian ‘theh’ sounds as wrong to my ears as does the Italian rendition **Vision of Love** gave us! ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/18 "2005-02-14T23:36:51Z")
My mother, who was born in Argentina where this is a major favorite, pronounces it DOOL-say deh LAY-chay. It’s comfort food from my childhood. She always made it the condensed milk way, but I’ve found that the Smucker’s version in the ice cream toppings section is good enough to replace it without the labor. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/19 "2005-02-14T23:47:21Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > The modern way: > > Get a can of condensed milk, take the label off and put it to boil inside a pot full of water (you may want not to close the can hermetically, let´s say that milk sweet is not a good kitchen paint) As I said, put it to heat and when the water boils reduce the flame a bit to kep it boiling steadly, let it cook for an hour and it should be done. > > I should point out that I actually never tried this myself… I have an easy and (for me, so far) fool-proof method. Put the peeled can of sweetened condensed milk in a crock pot, cover with water, set it on low, and go to work or to bed. Eight hours later, you will have a can of something that is obscenely gooey and delicious. I have also put a can in a crock pot with the soup that’s cooking, making dinner and dessert at the same time. I’ve never had a can blow up on me. Mmmmm. I love the stuff. I like it to spread it on chunks of pineapple. And I can get sweetened condensed for, like, $0.97 per can. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-dulce-de-leche/289960/20 "2005-02-15T02:14:00Z")
Well, duh! It’s pronounced “duhl-see day leysh”! People, sheesh! WRS - now back to your regular program(ming).