The World Table

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Colombian · Dessert

Natilla Colombiana

  • Intermediate
  • 25 min
  • roughly 2 of 4 for cost
  • Vegetarian

warm-spiced · rich · sweet-edged Leads with warm spice humming through the middle, richness that coats and comforts, trailing gentle sweetness.

Ingredients

  • 1 L whole milk
  • 250 g panela, finely grated, or 200 g dark brown sugar
  • 120 g cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 g salt
  • 30 g butter
  • ground cinnamon, to finish

Equipment

Grater / zester

Allergen screen

Found: dairy

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

  1. Warm 700 ml of the milk with the cinnamon sticks, cloves and panela until the panela has dissolved, then leave it to infuse off the heat and strain it.
  2. Whisk the cornflour into the remaining cold milk until there is not a single lump, then pour it into the warm milk with the salt.
  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring flat across the base and into the corners without stopping, until it thickens suddenly and heaves rather than ripples.
  4. Keep it at that heavy boil for three more minutes, until a spoon drawn across the base leaves a track that holds and the chalky taste has gone, then beat in the butter.
  5. Pour into a wetted shallow dish, smooth the top and leave at room temperature until it is firm enough to cut into squares, then dust with cinnamon.

At the Table

The Pour
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Also Right
Demi-sec Champagne
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Belgian tripel
Zero-Proof
Jasmine tea

The sweetness rule is absolute: the pour must be sweeter than the plate, and acid keeps it from cloying.

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Film school

This dish, cooked on camera Search films of Natilla Colombiana The cuisine, deeper Technique films from the Colombian kitchen