Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding: Tembleque

As an adjective, the Spanish word "tembleque"* means "shaky, trembly, wobbly," and as a noun, it means, "(the) jitters, shakiness." This dessert obviously got its name from the "shaky" nature of the pudding, which is true of many gelatin type dishes. The dish seems to have originated in Puerto Rico, but Brazil has the same basic dessert, although the Brazilian version is often topped with a plum and wine sauce and the dessert is called "manjar branco" in Portuguese.**   

Ingredients:

2 cans coconut milk (28 to 30 ounces total)
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
candied orange peel for garnish
ground cinnamon to taste for garnish
(optional) toasted coconut for garnish

In a bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 1 can of coconut milk until the cornstarch is well dissolved into the coconut milk. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, mix together the other can of the coconut milk, the cornstarch mixture, the sugar and the salt (a whisk is good to use for this). Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly and let the mixture thicken, taking care that there are no lumps. You can use ramekins or other small dishes, filling them with the pudding and then covering them with plastic wrap before refrigerating them for 4 to 6 hours. Serve in the individual dishes or unmold onto serving plates, but in either case, sprinkle on some cinnamon and/or some toasted coconut and add a strip or two of candied orange peel.

* The basic pronunciation in Spanish of "tembleque" is as if "tem-blay-kay," but from what I understand, Spanish speakers from various parts of the world may put a little more emphasis (accent) on either the second or third parts, according to their local or regional speech patterns.

** In Portugal, "manjar branco" is the name of a couple of dishes, with one "similar" to the basic Puerto Rican/Brazilian dish, but it is not made with coconut milk, but rather with cream or milk. Then there is another dish of that name which is made with chicken meat in thickened milk. This dish has the more specific name "manjar branco Coimbra."  

WORD HISTORY:
Bonus-This word is related to quite a number of words including, "bounty" and "beauty," both words of Latin derivation borrowed by English through French, and "bonanza," another Latin-derived word, but in this case borrowed by English from Spanish (particularly Mexican Spanish). "Bonus" goes back to Indo European "deu," which had the notion "partial to, show favor or reverence toward." This gave its Italic offspring "dweno(s)," meaning "good." This gave Latin "duenos," also meaning "good," but the word then became "duonus," before the change to "bonus,"^ still with the meaning "good," but with the extended meanings, "useful, brave, gallant." English borrowed the word in the mid 1700s, mainly with the meaning, "money or other benefit given to reward good work performance" (or used as an offer to entice and encourage good work performance), then expanded to "any kind of additional benefit," including in competition, such as "bonus point(s)," and also "special benefit to join an organization or business, often in sports, but not exclusively so."      

^ The Latin word for war, "bellum," was also once spelled with a beginning "d." 

Piña Colada

Back in the late 1970s, singer and songwriter Rupert Holmes released a song with the lyrics, "If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain..." Well, the name of the song upon its original release had nothing to do with "piña coladas," because its was called, "Escape." We in the public knew the song because of its reference to piña coladas, and so the record company and Holmes amended the song title to, "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)." The song and the drink were VERY popular!

The "Piña Colada," which literally means, "strained pineapple" (see Word History, below) was invented in Puerto Rico in the 1950s. As with many a popular invention, there is not total agreement as to this drink's naming, or more precisely, when the drink was given its enduring name. This is a very tough drink to make, as it will require you to be able to pour liquid, add ice cubes and then.... to push a button on a blender to make the blender operate, and then... to push another button to make the blender stop. There are college degrees issued for being able to do these difficult maneuvers, but unfortunately, I flunked out. I kept pushing the wrong buttons and it took me most of a semester to find out the buttons that operate the lights in the room are not the buttons that operate the blender. They have to make things complicated. Damn! And I wondered why the lights kept going off and on. 

Ingredients (per drink):

2 ounces light (white) rum
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces coconut cream
pineapple chunks
maraschino cherries
1 cup ice cubes

Put the rum, the pineapple juice, the coconut cream and the ice cubes into a blender. Blend until smooth. Garnish with pineapple chunks or slices and a maraschino cherry or two. You can adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your own taste. Hey! The lights just went out. Well, habits are hard to break. Cheers!
 
I've seen all kinds of glasses used over the years for Piña Coladas (short, tall, squat, narrow), so use what you have or what you think makes a nice presentation, if you are serving guests.

WORD HISTORY:
Colander-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, and part of even its later history is a little shaky. It goes back to the Latin noun "colum," a type of "woven wicker basket or fishing net used for fishing." This brought about the additional meaning, "sieve," and produced the verb "colare," "to strain or to put liquid through a sieve." This produced Latin "colatorium." This passed into Latin-based languages of the western Mediterranean in various forms, but while English borrowed a number of words from Latin-based French, this does not seem to be one of them. It was borrowed by English in the 1300s, "perhaps" from Spanish or Catalan "colador," but with an "n" inserted because of either misunderstanding or easier pronunciation in those times? It had several spellings in English originally, all with an "n" ("coloner," "cullender," for example).       

Puerto Rican Eggnog: Coquito

This coconut flavored "eggnog" is a drink for the Christmas holiday season among Puerto Ricans. While it is often described as "eggnog," not everybody includes egg yolks in their recipe. There are some other variations among recipes, too, as, for instance, some people make it with coconut milk, some use cream of coconut (as I've done), and some use both.* Light colored rum, also called "white rum," or "clear rum," is the preferred type of rum for this drink. Rum production is one of the main industries in Puerto Rico, which is a United States territory, and a great deal of Puerto Rican rum is sold on the mainland of the U.S.    

The canned cream of coconut might vary slightly in the number of ounces, depending upon brand name. Some people make larger batches of "coquito," just prior to the holiday season, putting it into bottles, and leaving it to "cure" for a couple of weeks before drinking it. 

Ingredients:

2/3 to 1 cup light (in color) rum
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
(optional) 2 egg yolks 

Add all ingredients into a bowel and whisk it well, or better yet, put the ingredients into a blender and blend until very well mixed. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, at least, but it is better if left in the frig for 6 to 8 hours. Serve in glasses topped with or without some whipped cream and a little sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

* Cream of coconut has a higher fat content than coconut milk and much of the liquid is extracted (as for coconut milk); thus, it is much thicker, and it is usually sweetened a bit.  

WORD HISTORY:
Cask-This word, related to "quash" (a word borrowed by English), has a difficult history, but it seems to go back to Indo European "kuet/kwet," which had the idea, "to shake." This gave Latin "quassare," which meant, "to shatter, to break into pieces, to split up," which passed to Latin-based Spanish as "cascar," with the same basic meaning. This produced the noun "casco," which initially meant, "shard or piece of pottery." This then came to mean "helmet," "perhaps" from the idea of pottery having formed a vase or jar, which resembles a helmet, because the word also meant, "jar, bottle, vat." Helmets were also used to cook food, or to hold food or drink. This was borrowed into French as "casque," with the same meanings. English borrowed the word in the mid 1400s, with the meaning, "container for liquids, often alcoholic types of liquids."

Puerto Rican Rice Pudding (Arroz con Dulce)

This recipe isn't really based upon any one recipe, but the idea came from a cookbook I have: "A Taste of Puerto Rico," by Yvonne Ortiz, Dutton, a division of Penguin Books, 1994

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

2 cups short grain white rice
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 13.5 oz (or 14 oz) can coconut milk
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup golden raisins, soaked in a little Puerto Rican rum, light or dark, for about an hour
can add shredded coconut & top with ground cinnamon

In a sauce pan, heat the water to boiling with the salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, add the rice and simmer until all the water is absorbed. Be aware, the rice will not be done, but do not add more water! Add the condensed milk, the evaporated milk, the coconut milk. Strain the raisins, saving the rum for someone who might like it (I can't imagine who ... hic... 'scuse me!). Add the raisins and stir well to combine. Simmer until all the milk combo is absorbed. Let cool a bit, then chill. Sprinkle each serving with some shredded coconut and ground cinnamon on top, followed further by some whipped cream. If you still have some rum left over from soaking the raisins, woo woo!

WORD HISTORY:
Clove-There are two words of this spelling in English, and in spite of their similarity in meaning, they are from different sources, ^ but this is the name for the spice. It goes back to Indo European "klehw," which meant "peg, spike." This gave Latin "clavus," which meant "nail." French, a Latin-based language, had the term, "clou de girofle" (a type of flower, whose bud bore a resemblance to a nail). English borrowed the word as "clowes" in the 1400s. The whole dried spice bud got the name, as it resembled a nail.

^ For the other form "clove," the past tense form of "cleave," and meaning "a section of garlic," this is the link to the article where that word is covered: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-we-got-with-obamapart-two-bankers.html