Jericalla

As tradition built it

Jericalla

Baked 160°C for 30 minutes to 180°C for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on household

Ingredients

• 1 litre milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 cinnamon stick, or half a vanilla pod
• 1 cup white sugar

Method

1. Combine the milk, egg yolks, whole eggs, cinnamon stick or vanilla pod, and sugar.
2. Bake au bain-marie; timings genuinely vary across households, from 160°C for 30 minutes to 180°C for 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Judge doneness by a dark golden crust having formed on the custard's own surface, baked uncovered so it scorches under direct heat, giving it a lighter, less thick texture than flan.
4. Sometimes finish under the grill to force that crust.

What a modern chef changes

Sous Vide Infusion, Egg-Torched Crust

Method

1. Infuse the milk with the cinnamon or vanilla sous vide at a controlled low temperature before it ever meets the eggs, extracting more of the spice's own flavour than a stovetop scald allows without any risk of scorching the milk.
2. Strain the custard base through a chinois before baking for a genuinely silkier set.
3. Finish the crust with a Big Green Egg run very hot, direct heat, lid down, for a fast, high-temperature scorch closer to the dish's own name and history than a domestic grill's gentler browning gives.