Jericalla del Hospicio Cabañas

Jalisco gives us jericalla from Guadalajara, and more specifically from the institutional kitchens of Hospicio Cabañas. This is not flan with bad manners. It has no caramel base. It is milk, huevo, yemas de huevo, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla baked gently in a water bath until the custard trembles, then browned hard on the surface.

The burnt top is the signature. Not a decoration. The milk takes the cinnamon first, slowly, so the aroma enters the custard before the eggs ever touch it. Then you temper the huevos and yemas de huevo with patience. Pour hot milk too fast and you make sweet scrambled eggs. No me vengas con atajos.

I have eaten jericallas in Guadalajara served in little barro or glass cups, cold from the refrigerator, the top dark and freckled, the inside pale and soft. A señora near Mercado San Juan de Dios told me the top should look almost too dark. She was right. That bitterness is what keeps the custard from becoming childish. Cada estado, su propia cocina.