The cuisine of chef José Andrés is largely based on his roots and traditions, and the heritage of the home could not be missing from those bases. We all have flavors take us back to childhoodand few memories leave a mark as strong as the desserts and sweets that came out of the family kitchen.
Today perhaps that special value that homemade sweets had has been lost a bit, since in the past they used to be reserved more for special occasions and the most common thing was that they were prepared mothers and grandmothers, creating a kind of ritual that made us children salivate long before sinking our teeth into it. In the case of José Andrés, the dessert he remembers is the same one that thousands of Spaniards surely share, a traditional flan.
The Asturian chef tells us that his mother used to prepare flan for family meals on Sundays. It may not have been the perfect, smooth and homogeneous flan that is served today in her restaurants, as she describes it as the most typical flan rustic full of bubbles due to the rudimentary oven they had at the time, but that was part of its charm.
It is what has the power nostalgic of the kitchen, with the rituals and traditions that each one of us builds throughout our lives. It shapes us, leaves a mark on us, contributes to creating our identity with memories that are capable of generate feelings and emotions many years later only with an aroma or when trying a certain flavor again.
This is what happens to José Andrés with his mother’s flan; “this flan became part of my DNA, and moves me to my home in my mind and in my heart”, he confesses in his newsletter. We all have at least one dish, a sweet or a product capable of generating the same sensations, that recipe that only with its aroma takes you to another time, to another place, to another moment in your life.
Recovering the flan from the mother of José Andrés, the version that the chef proposes is a tribute to the one he devoured at home, where he and his brothers used to play at gobble it up in one gowithout using the spoon, that added a fun component that reinforced the special character of the “flan moment” in his family.
According to the flan recipe that he shares on his website, José Andrés prepares a candy with 50 g of sugar and two tablespoons of water, although he also suggests using maple syrup directly reduced over heat until dark and thick. The flan cream is made with two eggs and a combination of whipping cream and light cream or milk whole, flavored with vanilla, and curdles it in individual ramekins in the oven in a bain-marie, covered with aluminum foil.
IBILI 230010 – Set 4 Ramequin Mold 9 Cms
He suggests serving them with sliced orange segments, a few leaves of mint or spearmint fresh and whipped cream, or with nothing more than the caramel itself that will bathe each flan when unmolding.
Photos | mrsiraphol
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