Arroz con Leche - Peruvian Style

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup of rice
* 2-1/2 cups water
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 4 cloves
* 1 cup of milk
* Peel of one orange
* 1 can condensed milk

Directions:

1) Put the rice, water, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan with a tight lid. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the water is gone and the rice is cooked.

2) Add the milk and the orange peel. Cook over low heat until it reduces again.

3) Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel

4) Add the condensed milk, and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens.

Serve in glass bowls, and decorate with a shake of cinnamon and a few raisins if you like.

The above recipe for arroz con leche is more or less the same as the recipe the Spanish brought to the New World hundreds of years ago. But Peruvians are rarely content to let food be, and often add a bit of this and a bit of the other local ingredient to immigrant recipes, turning the foods into a more purely Peruvian cuisine. This is certainly true with our second recipe, Arroz Zambito.

First, a little background on the name. The Spanish conquistadors used the term "zambo" to denote people whose heritage was a mix of African and indigenous Indians (much as mestizo denotes a mix of white European and Indian). In Peru, this word is merely a descriptive term, unlike some countries where the phrase has come to have a more derogatory connotation. So the name "arroz zambito" is quite appropriate for the dessert. Not only is this version of arroz con leche darker in color, it's also a mix of immigrant and indigenous flavors.

The addition to arroz zambito that makes it dark and gives it a distinctive flavor is a type of sugar called chancaca. Chancaca is a very raw version of sugar, made by taking the juice of the sugar cane and boiling it down over very low heat. You can buy chancaca at your local Latin market, and it's also available at Amazon.com - Chancaca

Ingredients:

* 1 quart (liter) of water
* 3/4 cup of rice
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 6 cloves
* 1/2 cup of raisins
* 1 cup of chancaca, grated
* 3 cans of evaporated milk
* 1/2 cup sugar
* grated coconut and powdered cinnamon for garnish

How to Make It:

1. Boil the rice in the water with the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
2. When the rice has absorbed all the water, remove the cinnamon and cloves.
3. Add the raisins, the chancaca, and the three cans of evaporated milk. (make sure it's evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed!)
4. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the rest of the sugar. Continue cooking on low heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding is of a creamy consistency.

Serve it in individual bowls, garnished with grated coconut and ground cinnamon.