◆ In House

El Arrozal de Coco

Coconut & Kaffir Lime Rice Pudding

€13.90

Short-grain rice cooked slow in milk and coconut milk, lifted with kaffir lime and lemongrass: Asturian rice pudding with a Southeast Asian accent.

Origin España

Producer Zales & Rego

Volume 215 g

Appearance

Creamy ivory porridge with visible rice grains; faintly glossy

Aroma

Coconut, kaffir lime, lemongrass, star anise, soft cinnamon, vanilla cream

Taste · Primary

Sweet creamy rice, coconut, soft citrus-floral

Taste · Secondary

Lemongrass, kaffir lime, star anise warm-spice, cinnamon, salt

Texture

Creamy spoonable porridge with intact rice grains

Finish

Long, sweet-aromatic, with a clean citrus-spice close

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The rice pudding tradition is one of the world's oldest desserts. Spanish arroz con leche, Italian budino di riso, Greek rizogalo, Indian kheer. Coconut Rice Fields is the Asturian arroz con leche crossed with Southeast Asian aromatic rice, short-grain rice cooked in whole milk and coconut milk, with sugar, lime zest, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, sea salt, star anise and cinnamon.

The coconut milk softens the rice and coats the grains in a creamy lipid that carries the volatile aromatics; kaffir lime delivers the citrus-floral top note; lemongrass adds a lemony-grass aromatic; star anise and cinnamon ground the dish in Mediterranean spice.

The Producer

Zales & Rego - Alcorcón, Madrid

The line starts in a botica in Mondoñedo, Galicia, where remedies, conserves and spices once shared the same shelf. Alonzo Rego carried the trade to Cádiz in 1776, then across the Atlantic to Veracruz in 1795. In 1888, Don Ismael Rego y Salcedo gave the house its formal name. Seven generations later, Zales & Rego returns to the old world, composing and selecting from a workshop in Alcorcón, Madrid: compose, select, preserve the excellent.

Founded 1888

Generations Seven, documented in archive

Workshop Alcorcón, Madrid

Philosophy Compose. Select. Preserve the Excellent.

The Process

Spanish rice pudding, Thai aromatics.

Short-grain rice cooks slowly in whole milk and coconut milk until the grains soften and the coconut fat coats each one, carrying the volatile aromatics through the dish. Kaffir lime and lemongrass bring the citrus-floral register in, star anise and cinnamon ground it back in Mediterranean spice, so two traditions sit in the same spoonful without either one taking over.

Rice Short-grain

Base Whole milk, coconut milk

Aromatic Kaffir lime, lemongrass

Spice Star anise, cinnamon

“Arroz con leche didn't need reinventing. It just needed a passport.”

Zales & Rego · España