A Taste of Home

photo credit: Alexander Mils @alexandermils via Unsplash

Vegan Ponce-Nog Recipe

In the United States, sharing eggnog has become a universally recognized staple of the post-Thanksgiving season.  Eggnog is a staple at office holiday parties and family dinners. Ready-made eggnog is ubiquitous in grocery stores in each corner of the country. 

Eggnog, though more universally recognized, isn’t the only variation of this milky holiday drink, however.  In the Caribbean in particular, there are any number of variations on this recipe. Puerto Ricans are incredibly enthusiastic about their coquito, making it almost as widely known on the US mainland.  Mexican-Americans’ rompope keeps them connected to their culture during the Christmas season. 

Speaking to my own experience, any time I encounter an event or gathering with Ponche de Créme I’m immediately taken back to Trinidad.  In fact many foods and drinks have that effect; instantly making me feel like I am back home. But very few foods and drinks have that effect while also being so incredibly similar to foods and drinks from many other places.

All that being said, since I’ve omitted dairy and eggs from my diet, I’ve experienced an almost automatic alienation from my culture in many respects.  The naturally vegan or mostly vegan dishes in Caribbean cuisine notwithstanding, there are a number of dishes that I’ve simply had to avoid since switching to a plant-based diet.  Unfortunately, Ponche de Creme is the one beverage that I can no longer enjoy the way that I used to and a part of “authentic” Trinidadian culture that my vegan diet keeps me distanced from.

As an expatriate constantly seeking a connection to my native culture, this is particularly distressing to say the least.  Ponche de Creme recipes that replace animal-derived ingredients with plant-based ingredients end up being so dissimilar to the classic Ponche de Creme recipe, that the immediate connection to Trinidadian culture becomes simply inaccessible.

Ironically, this lack of Trinidadian authenticity found in Vegan Ponche de Creme, actually speaks to the truly universal synthesis of milk+alcohol= holiday beverage, which can be clearly tasted in all of these creamy Christmas concoctions ( American eggnog, the Mexican rompope, the Venezuelan Ponche Crema (from whence Trinidadian Ponce de Creme is heavily influenced) and the Puerto Rican coquito).

INGREDIENTS 

4 cups “full fat” coconut milk

1-2 Cups Rum (White Oak Rum or Dark spiced rum)

1  medium-sized sliced Banana or ½ cup soaked/drained cashews

2-3 Tablespoons Angostura Bitters

¾ cup Maple Syrup, Agave Syrup or other liquid sweetener

1 Tablespoon citrus fruit zest (orange, lemon and or lime recommended)

Photo credit: Pratiksha Mohanty @pratiksha_mohanty via Unsplash

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste

1 Tablespoon Nutmeg powder

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder 

1 Teaspoon crushed Cloves

1 Teaspoon salt (Himalayan black salt or sea salt)

1 teaspoon Turmeric powder

NOTES

If using cashews as the primary thickening agent, add ½ a cup of cashews to warm water and leave to soak for 12 to 20 hours prior to assembling the full recipe.  Once cashews have completed the 12 to 20 hours of soaking, drain off all of the water before incorporating them into the full recipe.

If purchasing whole cloves, which is recommended, you can use a mortar and pestle or the back of a spatula against a cutting board to crush them.  Either way, I would recommend crushing cloves even if slightly before adding them to the blender to avoid any sips bearing uncomfortably large bits.

Himalayan “black” salt is the preferred salt for “seasoning” this recipe because in addition to having a potent saltiness character, it also has a perceptibly high degree of sulfur which echoes the flavor that eggs bring to the Ponche Creme holiday concoction.  Indeed, there’s hardly any other way to simultaneously salinate and sulfurize the flavor profile of the drink. That being said, a standard sea salt will also get the job done.

Specifically using Angostura Bitters makes this beverage inherently Trinidadian even if it is an inauthentic Ponche Creme.  Like Ponche Creme itself, Angostura Bitters’ recipe was originally developed in Venezuela before being popularized as a part of Trinidadian cultural identity.  Other brands of bitters could also work, but I opine that the experience of both making and consuming this or any version of Ponche Creme would be far lesser without it.

PROCEDURE

Add full fat coconut and thickening element (soaked cashews or sliced banana) to a blender and then blend at a medium speed for a full two minutes or until ingredients are fully and smoothly incorporated

Slowly pulse in all remaining ingredients, being sure to add the Angostura bitters and rum last.  Pour mixture into a clean pitcher and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving in an old-fashioned glass, an old fashioned cocktail glass (also known as a “lowball” or a “rocks” glass), or a brandy glass.

ENJOY

Part of life as an immigrant, particularly in a nation of immigrants, is the constant search for connection to one’s roots even while participating in life in your new country.  The holiday season presents a particular opportunity for immigrants to reconnect with the traditions of their homelands all at the same time.

This holiday season, why not invite your American, Trinidadian, Puerto Rican, Mexican and other immigrant friends to enjoy this vegan, creamy delight and exchange stories of home and migration, of alienation and belonging, of tradition and evolution?  This vegan ponche creme is designed to bring everyone together and make everyone feel as though they are at home.

~Darren J. Glenn