Is there a flavor that takes you home as soon as it hits you?

For me it’s always been coconut. I grew up on my grandparent’s finca, a farm where dozens of coconut palms lined the beach. Just thinking of those palms swaying gently in the breeze warms my skin. It doesn’t matter that it’s March and I’m walking around the house in a puffy jacket.

In Puerto Rico the humble coconut has status and that status is #NationalTreasure. There are as many uses for it as there are selfies on Instagram. You can build with its husk. Its oil makes you prettier. More importantly its flesh tastes amazing with sugar on it. So much so, that on my island you can buy five different types of candied coconut while you’re stuck at a red light. My grandfather and his massive sweet tooth rarely drove away from a street vendor empty handed. His favorite was the powdery white crema de coco.

Sometimes Abuelo Quique would tear open the bag while he was still fighting traffic. He’d break off a chunk and nibble it gently, swerving his dusty baby blue Fiat one handed through town. Catching our eyes in the rear view mirror he’d pass a couple of pieces to the back where my brother and I sat sans seat belts. I loved the way the candy melted in my mouth, like a creamy coconut fudge. I would press my fingers into the crumbs on the seat, place them gently on my tongue and close my eyes. The smell of the salt air, the sun flickering through the windows, the sound of the car next to us blasting an old salsa song. Coconut takes me back.

Recently I created a menu inspired by Puerto Rican cuisine for a new client. I wanted to follow the meal’s bold flavors with the sweet kiss of crema de coco. I chose to make panna cotta, a luscious cream that’s thickened with gelatin until it can just barely hold its shape. It trembles on a spoon and melts as soon as it hits your lips. The addition of coconut, vanilla, nutmeg and star anise takes you straight to the tropics.

My soundtrack for this preparation is July Mateo Rasputin’s Oye Abre Los Ojos.  Listening to it as I taste my coconut cream mixture I’m in the back seat again watching my Abuelo conquer the streets with one hand on the wheel and one hand on his lips. This recipe makes 6 portions. Buen provecho!

Tools

  • heavy bottomed 2 quart sauce pan
  • metal spoon to skim with
  • whisk
  • fine mesh strainer
  • cheese cloth
  • ice bath
  • deep bowl that fits into your ice bath
  • wide bottomed bowl to bloom gelatin in
  • 6 wide mouthed glasses

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 150z can cream of coconut (I use Goya brand)
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 star anise
  • 1/8 tspn nutmeg
  • 3 3/4 tsps powdered gelatin
  • 4 tbsps cold water

Directions

  1. In a heavy bottomed 2 quart sauce pan mix together the heavy cream, milk and cream of coconut. Add vanilla bean, star anise and nutmeg. Bring to a light simmer and take the pot off the heat.
  2. Remove the vanilla bean and split it down the center. Scrape vanilla seeds into the cream mixture and return the bean to the pot. Cover with a lid and let the bean and star anise steep for 30 minutes.
  3. Prepare the glassware for the panna cotta. Clean, dry and place all of them on a paper towel lined tray. Once you fill them with panna cotta you want to move them as little as possible so the mixture doesn’t stain the inside of the glass. Make sure there is room in your fridge for the tray.
  4. When there are ten minutes left in the steeping process, bloom the gelatin in a bowl. Sprinkle it teaspoon by teaspoon over the 4 tablespoons of water so that all the granules bloom. Prepare an ice bath.
  5. Panna cotta’s texture should be silky smooth and the coconut butter that rises to the top of your cream mixture can become waxy when chilled so it’s best to skim it off. I reserve this butter to eat with bananas, berries or mangoes. Pass the skimmed cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth.
  6. Return the mixture to the pot and bring back to a soft simmer. Steam should just barely rise from the pot. You will see small bubbles form where the mixture meets the side of the pot. Take the pot off the heat and mix in the bloomed gelatin until incorporated. You will know the gelatin has completely dissolved when you can no longer see granules on your whisk.
  7. Place the cream mixture in a bowl and place that bowl in the ice bath. Allow mixture to cool for 20 minutes. Skim the coconut butter off the top of the mixture again and strain one last time.
  8. Fill the prepared panna cotta glasses with the cooled cream. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, a minimum of four hours but preferably overnight.
  9. You can top your panna cotta if you wish. I chose a roasted red pepper mango, fresh mint and raspberries and coconut milk caramel.

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