Flan is a French word and a classic dessert made with eggs, milk, sugar and caramel. Let see its story!
Flan is a French word and a classic dessert made with eggs, milk, sugar and caramel. It is cooked au bain marie in the oven or on top of the stove. In Spain the same recipe is known a flan de huevo y caramel and yet the origin of the recipe is neither French, Spanish or even Cuban.
The Cuban Flan Origin
To find the origin of such a lovely dessert we have to go back to antiquity and the Greek and Roman kitchens where a preparation made with eggs, milk and honey known as tyropatinan was popular.
The recipe as we know it today had to wait until the middle ages when sugar and therefore caramel could be added.
Today hundreds of different versions are cooked all over the world including a Cuban recipe which is made with coconut and coconut milk.
With the Colombian Exchange old world recipes reached the Caribbean shores and it is more than probable that one day a cook in the wonderful island of Cuba changed the cows milk for coconut milk.
This is the first book in English to trace the history of the food of Spain from antiquity to the present day.
Cuban Flan Recipe
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
130 g white caster sugar
1 tablespoons water
a few drops lemon juice
6 whole eggs
400 g coconut milk
200 g condensed milk
a few drops vanilla essence
50 g grated coconut
22cmx17cmx6cm ovenproof dish
Set the oven to 160 degrees.
In a small pan make the caramel with the sugar, a little water and the lemon juice.
With the caramel cover the bottom and sides of the ovenproof dish.
Using a metal whisk beat the eggs very gently.
Add the coconut milk and the condensed milk, the vanilla essence and the grated coconut.
Again, very gently, blend all the ingredients well.
Slowly start pouring the egg mixture over the caramel. Cover the dish with aluminium foil.
Place it in of a large, roasting dish half filled with boiling water.
Bake for about 40 minutes. The flan should be quite firm on the sides and slightly wobbly but never runny in the centre.
Serve very cold with a dash of fresh double cream gently beaten by hand for a couple of minutes.
This is the first book in English to trace the history of the food of Spain from antiquity to the present day.