RECIPE - Rice Pudding with Caramel and Fleur du Sel (Arroz Doce ao Caramelo com Flor de Sal)

Lucas Corazza

Yesterday's recipe for Brazilian rice pudding was the homemade original - today's is the downtown, day-after-tomorrow chef's showcase recipe. It is the creation of São Paulo chef/patissier Lucas Corazza, chef-in-command of the kitchen at the city's Bar.bar Gastronomia. In an article in May's issue of Brazilian food and wine magazine Prazeres da Mesa, Corazza advocates for the inclusion of rice as a legitimate ingredient in the sweet kitchen, and explains how he finds the grain useful in the creation of new pastries, desserts and sweets.

His recipe for rice pudding combines a fairly standard rice pudding preparation with a refined salty-sweet topping of cream-caramel and fleur du sel. Best served in a tumbler, or even better, a stemless wine glass this sophisticated dessert dresses up sometimes-dull rice pudding for a night on the town, São Paulo-style.
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RECIPE - Rice Pudding with Caramel and Fleur du Sel (Arroz Doce ao Caramelo com Flor de Sal)
Serves 10

For the rice pudding:
4 cups water
2 cups long-grain white rice
2 cups whole milk
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 vanilla beans
powdered cinnamon to taste

For the topping:
1 cup creme de leite (see note above)
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp fleur du sel

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Rice pudding:
Combine the rice, the water, the vanilla beans, opened with seeds scraped out, and the whole milk in a pressure cooker. Seal the pressure cooker, heat over medium high heat and cook for six minutes from the time the cooker takes pressure. Remove from heat, let cool to release pressure, then pour the mixture into a mixing bowl.

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, the cover the mixture with plastic film and refrigerate.

Caramel:
Heat the creme de leite over low heat, but do not let it boil. Put half of the sugar into a heavy saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until it caramelizes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the creme de leite very slowly, stirring all the while, until you have a homogenous mixture. Return the pan to the heat and bring it briefly to the boil. Remove from heat, stir in the fleur du sel, let cool to room temperature and reserve.

Mounting the dish:
Using cups or glasses as above, fill them half full with the chilled rice pudding. With a spoon, carefully pour a layer of caramel on top, then serve immediately.

RECIPE - Rabbit in a Clay Pot (Coelho na Panela de Barro)

Brazil doesn't have a large tradition of eating rabbit, unlike some European and North American countries. It's not that rabbit as food is totally unheard of, it's just that when you ask most Brazilians if they like eating rabbit you're likely to get back a puzzled expression in return. Sort of, "Rabbit? Never really thought of that."

It's not really that Brazilians object to eating small furry beasts - in the semi-arid interior of northeastern Brazil there's a tradition of eating an animal called preá - Wikipedia translates it into English as Brazilian guinea pig. Perhaps part of the reason is that rabbits are not native to most of South America and arrived in Brazil only after the country was colonized by Europeans. To this day southern Brazil has no wild rabbit population.

However, there has been a recent increase in interest in rabbits as food - from domesticated, fared rabbits. The health benefits of rabbit meat, which is lean and low in cholesterol, appeal to 21st Century eaters around the world, and the relative ease of entry into the rabbit-farming world is appealing to would-be rabbit producers.

This recipe for rabbit cooked in a clay pot comes from the website of Coelhos Lagoa Funda, a rabbit farm in the state of Espírito Santo. This state is famed for its clay pots so it's only natural that regional dishes cooked in clay pots would be adapted to rabbits.

As with yesterday's recipe, this dish can successfully be cooked in ceramic, cast iron or other metal cookware, but according to the recipe source it is particularly delicious when cooked in clay.
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RECIPE - Rabbit in a Clay Pot (Coelho na Panela de Barro)
Serves 6

2 rabbits, cut into serving pieces
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 medium onion, chopped
1 1/3 cup (350 ml) dry white wine
34 cup (200 ml) water
fresh rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
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Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan, then brown the pieces of rabbit on all sides. Do in two batches if necessary to avoid crowding. Reserve the browned rabbit.

In a wide deep clay pot (or other suitable piece of cookware) place the reserved pieces of rabbit, then sprinkle the chopped carrots, tomatoes and onions over. Gently pour in the white wine and water, then sprinkle the chopped rosemary.

Bring to a boil over a medium flame, then reduce heat to a slow simmer and cook for about one hour, gently stirring from time to time. If the dish begins to dry out, add more water. At the end of the cooking time, if the sauce is very liquid increase heat and boil the sauce to thicken it.

Remove from the heat and serve immediately in the clay pot. Accompany with buttered egg noodles or boiled potatoes.