Café Maya Flameado

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Clay olla or heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Four heatproof glass cups or hand-painted Ticul ceramic mugs
• •Long fireplace matches or a long lighter
• •Small tray for tableside service
• •Long spoons for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the café de olla

   In a clay olla or a heavy saucepan, combine the water, piloncillo, canela stick, cloves, and the small strip of orange peel. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves completely. The water should turn the color of weak tea and the kitchen should smell of canela and burnt sugar. Do not use white sugar. Piloncillo is the recipe.

   If you can find a real clay olla from Oaxaca or Michoacán, use it. The unglazed clay rounds the coffee. A stainless pot works but the drink is flatter.
2. 2

   Steep the coffee

   Once the piloncillo is dissolved, pull the pot off the heat. Add the coarse-ground coffee, stir once, and cover. Let it steep for 5 minutes. No longer. The piloncillo and canela have already done the work of softening the coffee. Steep it too long and the result turns bitter and there is no fixing it.

3. 3

   Strain through fine mesh

   Strain the coffee through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. Press lightly on the grounds. Discard the cloves, the spent canela, the orange peel, and the grounds. The café de olla should look dark, glossy, and a touch syrupy from the piloncillo. Keep it warm over very low heat while you set the table. Do not let it boil. Boiled coffee is sour coffee.

4. 4

   Prepare the service

   Set four heatproof glass cups or hand-painted Ticul ceramic mugs on a tray you can carry to the table. Pour 2 tablespoons of Xtabentún and 1 tablespoon of Kahlúa into the bottom of each cup. Have the brandy, the extra canela stick, the long match, and the orange peel ready on the tray. The flame happens in front of the guests. That is the entire point of the dish.

   Xtabentún is the only Yucatecan liqueur that belongs here. It is made from fermented honey of bees that feed on the xtabentún flower, with anise. If you cannot find it, do not substitute Sambuca. Make a different drink.
5. 5

   Flame the cups at the table

   Carry the tray to the table. In front of your guests, pour the hot café de olla into each cup until it reaches three-quarters full. Float a half teaspoon of brandy on the top of each cup. Touch a long match to the surface of one cup. The brandy will catch and the surface will dance with a low blue flame. Tilt the canela stick into the flame and use it as a torch to light the remaining cups. Hold the strip of orange peel over each flame and twist it so the oils flare and perfume the room. This is theater and it is also flavor.

   Make sure there is nothing flammable above the cups. No paper napkins hanging over, no curtains, no low-hanging lamps. A flame on top of a coffee cup is small but it is still a flame. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
6. 6

   Finish with vanilla ice cream

   Let the flame burn for 15 to 20 seconds, no longer. Most of the alcohol that is going to cook off has cooked off by then. While the flame is still low, drop one small scoop of vanilla ice cream into each cup. The ice cream extinguishes the flame, melts into a thin sweet ribbon across the top, and chills the first sip. Serve immediately with a long spoon. Drink it slow. The bottom of the cup is the strongest pull.

Chef Tips

• •Xtabentún is non-negotiable. The two Yucatecan brands you will find outside Mexico are D'Aristi and Casa D'Aristi. Both are correct. Do not use Sambuca or Anisette. The honey is the soul of the drink.
• •Piloncillo, not brown sugar. Brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added back. Piloncillo is unrefined cane sugar in cones, and the difference shows up in the cup. A small cone weighs about three ounces.
• •Use Mexican canela, also called Ceylon cinnamon. It is the soft, flaky bark you can crumble with your fingers. Cassia, the hard supermarket cinnamon, is too aggressive and will fight the Xtabentún. No me vengas con atajos on this one.
• •Practice the flame once in your kitchen before you do it at the table. Brandy at room temperature lights more easily than cold brandy. Warm the brandy slightly in your hand or in a small spoon over a candle before you float it.

Advance Preparation

• •The café de olla can be made one day ahead, strained, and refrigerated. Reheat gently on the stovetop, never in the microwave, and never to a boil.
• •The Xtabentún and Kahlúa can be portioned into the serving cups up to an hour before guests arrive and held at room temperature.
• •The flame and the ice cream happen at the table. Do not pre-pour the hot coffee or it will lose temperature and the flame will fizzle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)