“The secret ingredient”



Amadita is the 2nd from the left.

My aunt Amadita was a great cook. She lived all her life in the family home in a small town in Asturias. Her mother was widowed in the early postwar years when she was still very young and she had to take care or responsibility for five girls. Amadita was the oldest and she had to work to help the family. When she was 13 she was placed as a kitchen assistant at the village doctor’s house. There she learned to cook and became a wonderful cook who enjoyed her job. She cooked everything well but for me rice pudding was her best dish. Her “arroz con leche” was something impossible to match. I think her secret ingredient was her honey because my aunt was a very good person who showed us her love through food.

My Asturian village

Now I’m going to give you the authentic “arroz con leche” recipe. But when you cook it, remember the secret ingredient: LOVE.

Very important in any recipe, but even more so in this, is the quality of the ingredients, in this case milk and rice. If you can make it with fresh milk the result will be very tasty, especially for those of us who like milk and distinguish its flavor.

Let's make my aunt’s real rice pudding; you’ll see that it's a cinch!

Ingredients (6 people):

-        1000 ml of whole milk

-        1 cup of Spanish “bomba” rice

-        3 cups of water

-        200 grams of white sugar

-        1 tablespoon butter

-        1 pinch of salt

-        Lemon peel

-        1 cinnamon stick

-        1 dash of anise

Directions:

1.      Pour approximately 3 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil. When it begins to bubble, add the rice and the pinch of salt. Reduce heat a bit and simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the burner and allow the rice to sit in the pot of water until dries.

2.      Pour the milk into another large pot and add sugar, the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel. Turn the burner on low to medium heat. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring the milk to a boil over medium heat, being careful that it does not boil over. Once the milk boils, pour half the milk into another pot and add the dried rice, the butter and the anise. Allow to gently boil. It’s important to stir it very often to stop from sticking. When the rice is dry add the remaining milk gradually. The rice is ready when the grain is squishy but not overcooked. The cooking time will be approximately 1 1/2 hours.

3.      Remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel. Remove from heat and pour the rice pudding into a serving tray.

4.       Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon. Allow the rice mixture to cool down on the serving tray for 20 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

5.      In Asturias, in the North of Spain, this dish is served with a crust of caramelized sugar coating on top.The traditional method for forming the crust is to liberally sprinkle sugar on top, then place a very hot iron on top of the rice to burn it. You can accomplish the same thing by sprinkling the top with sugar and placing the dish under the broiler for a few minutes until the sugar is toasted.

 

This delicious dessert is ready. Enjoy it and remember ¡¡¡the secret ingredient!!!!

Nines