I can’t miss the opportunity to turn the bad milk accumulated during this week into something sweet and beautiful. Our blessed land gives for that and more.
Being black and white is very Valencian. On the one hand there is the official kit of Valencia CF; on the other, one of the most popular sandwiches in the country: blanc i negre (sausage and onion blood sausage always with broad beans); and… Attention! Also the blanc i negre ice cream. As most of you know, it consists of milk shake accompanied by iced coffee.
Excuse me if meringue, which comes from merengue, sounds sinister synonymous with Real Madrid, which should not matter to us today. We’re going to enjoy.
Meringue milk is called that way because, among other things, it contains egg white. As a child it was one of my favorite snacks. As popular or more than horchata on birthdays and children’s parties. It was something homemade, easy to prepare and that all our mothers, aunts and grandmothers controlled. It was only necessary to heat milk with sugar, a stick of cinnamon and lemon rind, let it infuse and cool; strain, for a while in the freezer, another outside, stirring, stirring and returning to the freezer until it has a more or less creamy texture. Finally, mix with some egg whites. That’s it. But today, would anyone dare?… cric, cric, cric… (crickets) Cowards!
The best meringue milk I know is the one Pepe Tormo makes in Vall d’Uixò. Aquilino ice cream, a classic. He prompted me to write about this, at a lively lunch talking about the origin of Valencian ice cream. Topic I covered last week. “Paco, this can’t be, you need the shortbread and milkshake,” Pepe said. True, two icons that we cannot ignore.
The difference between shortbread and milkshake is whether it contains egg yolk or not. To be shortbread, it must have at least 4% yolk in its composition. These ingredients are really the base of any creamy ice cream. Not to get confused: The classic Valencian shortbread ice cream has milk, sugar, egg yolk, cinnamon and lemon peel.
Then comes the magic of combinations. In that we are as experts and maniacs as with sandwiches. Everything is mixed with everything but without clowning around putting “toppings” on the same base. That’s the stuff of franchises that our teenagers are crazy about: soft industrial yogurt ice cream with a lot of volume, thanks to the textured air. It’s big business to charge for the air.
Another thing is to enjoy a milk shake with a little cinnamon sprinkled. Alone, with nothing else. I would place it at the top of the Valencian ice creams. Of course, immediately followed by the basic number one mix: milk shake with coffee granita.
There is a certain unanimity regarding the name: black and white, national, mig i mig… etc. However, to avoid surprises, ice cream makers recommend sparing no words and being clear. You have to ask for it like this: “Merengada milk with coffee granita”. In this way there is no margin for error. Because, for example, in Burriana if you ask for a “blanc i negre” they put you horchata with coffee. Be careful, things get complicated when the order variable enters. If you ask for horchata with coffee it is not the same as if you ask for coffee with horchata. What is named first must have more quantity. This is how the accepted canons rule in most traditional Valencian horchaterÃas-ice cream parlors. It would be a good idea to make a tutorial on this matter.
In nature there are five basic elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water, with which to build an empire. That transferred to the Valencian ice cream code would become milk meringue, horchata, iced coffee, iced lemon and aigua civà (barley). From there, creativity to power!
The frozen mixtures that appear in the fantastic manual by Francisco G. Seijo Alonso, Las bebidas valencianas (1980), combine these elements occasionally incorporating syrups or traditional Alicante liqueurs:
ARRIBA (typical of Xixona): iced lemon, a glass and a finger of paloma anise.
BLACK AND WHITE (San Juan): Frozen coffee and frozen horchata.
BLACK AND WHITE (Alicante): Iced coffee and ice cream.
LETTUGA (Xixona): A finger of mint and fill the glass with chilled lemon.
MARQUESETA (Xixona): Iced coffee and half a finger of anise. It is taken at parties.
LIE (Alcolecha): Half a glass of lemon water and half of coffee liqueur.
MIG I MIG (Regional): Half horchata and half barley water.
A NATIONAL (Alicante): Half a glass of iced coffee and two balls of shortbread.
NARDO (La Vila Joiosa): You have to make coffee by putting three parts and filling with one part of absinthe. It is eaten on grass during the patron saint festivities of Moros y Cristianos. In some cases they prepare it with lemon water and anise.
PALMERA (Alicante): Half lemon and half horchata de chufa.
PEBRERA (La Vila Joiosa): A finger of mint, fill with milk meringue. It is called that because it looks like a pepper.
RUSSIAN (Alicante): Coffee and shortbread. It is the same as the Black and White or National, mentioned above. (The Big Lebowski didn’t invent anything.)
TOMACA (La Vila Joiosa): Iced milk and a finger of strawberry or grenadine.
As a good Valencian, and set to invent combinations, these two come to mind:
VENI, VIDI, VINCI SOUR: Cachaça (typical Brazilian brandy), banana cream, Malibu and some M
DRY FLOGELOTTI: Chorrico de Amaretto, essence of arbitral mango, water from Canal de Isabel II with lots of real estate bubbles, and a few sheets of gold leaf to decorate. Serve in an orejona glass.
Profit!
