I Tried to Make a Flan Joke
But It Didn't Set Well!
Today, I wanted to write to you about my mother-in-law’s flan. That’s it up there! Besides her egg curry, her flan is just on a whole other level. So I figured I’d look up flan and get a little background into its history and ingredients and so forth.
But as it turns out, it’s not that easy!
The etymology is just all over the place. From 19th Century French for “open tart” to Medieval Latin, flado, or a sort of “offering cake,” the most common background I found was from Old High German, vlade, as a sort of “broad thin cake.”
But here’s the tricky part - my mother-in-law’s flan is Mexican Flan, which is more like a pudding. From my limited poking around, it appears that started all the way back in Ancient Rome where eggs and milk were cooked together and usually topped with something sweet like honey. The idea spread to Spain where the concert of caramelized sugar took hold and here we are today!
I mean, seriously, is there anything better than caramel juice?
Anyway, disclaimer, everything you read above could be totally wrong and a result of my Cliff Notes version of research. As I write this, it occurs to me that it would actually be a neat post to sit down and interview my mother-in-law, but I don’t dare wake her up so I’ll save that for another time.
For now, tell me about your favorite dessert. And don’t just say cake. I want to hear about whose cake, who made it, why is it special, what does it mean? Ready? Give me your sweet story!
Blueberry pie made with wild blueberries my mother and I picked at Paul Stream.
My favorite dessert is what we called Tootie Rolls. Really it was sugar and cinnamon rolled up in a pie crust. My dad would do the baking on Thanksgiving and Christmas and after finishing all the pies, he would use the leftover pie crust to make Tootie Rolls. My wife and daughter makes it now for me, but not as good as my dad.