Tembleque
{{Short description|Coconut dessert pudding from Puerto Rico}}
{{For|the village in Spain|Tembleque, Spain}}
{{For|the big one-piece skirt|Pollera}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Tembleque
| image = Tembleque - coconut pudding.jpg
| caption =
| alternate_name =
| country = {{Flag|Puerto Rico}}
| region = Puerto Rico
| creator =
| course = Dessert
| type = Pudding
| served =
| main_ingredient = Coconut milk, heavy cream, cornstarch, sugar, and cinnamon
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
Tembleque is a coconut dessert pudding from Puerto Rico{{Cite web|url=https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/puerto-rican-coconut-pudding/|title=Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding|website=Taste of Home|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-17}} similar to blancmange and related to Spanish manjar blanco and Filipino maja blanca. It is one of the most popular desserts in Puerto Rican cuisine.{{cite web | last=EPRL | first=Publicado por Grupo Editorial | title=Cultura popular - Cultura Popular | website=EnciclopediaPR | date=May 8, 2016 | url=https://enciclopediapr.org/encyclopedia/cultura-popular/#1464574011522-2f10c584-c56c | language=es | access-date=July 20, 2019}}
Ingredients
{{lang|es|Tembleque}} is made by cooking coconut cream, coconut milk, heavy cream (optional), salt, cornstarch, sugar, and garnished with ground cinnamon.
Tembleque can also be topped with a fruit relish or syrup usually made with sugar, liqueur, spices, fruit or simply chocolate shavings on top.{{Cite web|url=https://thenoshery.com/tembleque-coconut-pudding/|title=Tembleque (Coconut Pudding)|date=2018-12-14|website=The Noshery|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-17}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/tembleque-coconut-pudding|title=Tembleque - Coconut Pudding|website=www.goya.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-17}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.delishdlites.com/dessert-recipes/tembleque-puerto-rican-coconut-pudding/|title=Tembleque (Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding)|date=2018-01-04|website=Delish D'Lites|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-17}}
Other flavors excited such as added chocolate, cream cheese, ginger, orange blossom water, or adding other spices.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}
Cultural importance
It is a holiday dish, served on New Year's Day throughout the island of Puerto Rico.{{cite web | title=Salsa stories : Delacre, Lulu | website=Internet Archive | date=October 23, 2016 | url=https://archive.org/details/salsastories00dela | access-date=July 20, 2019}} While the recipe may have originated in Puerto Rico,{{cite web | title=CCNY Recipe Book 2017 | website=Internet Archive | date=October 23, 2016 | url=https://archive.org/details/CCNYRecipeBook2017 | access-date=July 20, 2019}} there are variants on the dish manjar blanco in Latin America, manjar branco in Brazil, and maja blanca in the Philippines. According to the Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico, published by the Foundation for the Humanities, each time a Puerto Rican migrant to the United States comes closer and closer to forgetting their roots, foods like {{lang|es|tembleque}} bring them back and remind them of who they are, of their island, and of their grandmother.{{cite web | last=Ramis | first=Publicado por García | title=Estampas del comer boricua - Proyectos FPH | website=EnciclopediaPR | date=July 9, 2016 | url=https://enciclopediapr.org/encyclopedia/estampas-del-comer-boricua/#1469770979384-51f9756c-638a | language=es | access-date=July 20, 2019}}
Etymology
In Spanish, the word tembleque is an adjective used to describe something that shakes, or a noun to describe the shakes themselves. The dessert, due to its Jell-O-like gel texture, trembles, shivers, and shakes{{cite web | title=tembleque | website=Diccionario Inglés-Español WordReference.com | url=https://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=tembleque | access-date=July 20, 2019}} if it has been prepared correctly.{{cite book | title=Daisy Cooks! : Latin Flavors That Will Rock Your World. (eBook, 2013) [WorldCat.org] | date=February 22, 1999 | oclc=880406782 }}
In popular culture
- "Tembleque", a reggaeton song by {{ill|John Eric|es}}, describes the movement of {{lang|es|tembleque}} the dessert, and {{lang|es|tembleque}} the dance move.{{cite web | title=TEMBLEQUE Reggaeton song by Jon Erik | website=Internet Archive | date=October 23, 2016 | url=https://archive.org/details/TEMBLEQUE | access-date=July 20, 2019}}
See also
{{Portal|Food}}