Eating with Doña Lita Floating Islands By Lita Ruiz litaruiz2001@yahoo.com This year’s January 6, the Day of the Epiphany, that in Hispanic America is celebrated more enthusiastically than the arrival of Santa Claus, we decided to revive an old custo
Eating with Doña Lita
By Lita Ruiz
This year’s January 6, the Day of the Epiphany, that in Hispanic America is celebrated more enthusiastically than the arrival of Santa Claus, we decided to revive an old custom of my husband’s family here at home. Several times he had recounted of the wonderful times enjoyed by his countless relatives when they all got together to open presents, at a different uncle’s or aunt’s house every year.
My husband’s grandmother had twelve children, and on January 6 all of them with their respective spouses, and sons and daughters, arrived very early in the morning to Aunt Paula’s, Uncle Ramiro’s, Aunt María Carla’s, or any of the other uncles or aunts houses. The whole family came loaded with gifts to put under the Christmas tree decorated with artificial snow made of cotton (no one in the family had ever seen real snow, except in the movies), while in the garden the tropical winter withered flowers at a temperature of 90 degrees.
The main character at this celebration was my husband’s grandmother. The day before she arrived at the house of the selected son or daughter and began preparing for the moment that where she would proudly preside over the most significant moment of the celebration: the snack of the Epiphany. The next morning when everyone was already there and boxes were being opened, and the kids shrieked with delight over their presents, grandmother and the aunts made their entrance with the trays. They brought tall crystal glasses filled with the sweet Floating Islands, the wonder concoction that Grandmother made only once a year, on January 6, for the opening of presents. And on that instant the beautiful dolls, the new bicycle or the musical top were momentarily forgotten for Grandmother’s unforgettable gift, lovingly made for all her tribe.
The one day family slowly began to separate. Brothers and sisters said farewell, cousins said goodbye and the uncles and aunts took grandma with them. Some members of the family had already distanced themselves, and leaving was only a reaffirmation of the previous breaking off. It was traumatic for all, but I’m positive, from what my husband has told me, that his grandmother suffered the most. My sister in law, who was a child when she left, wrote that grandmother (her great grandmother) never wanted to celebrate the Epiphany again, because she missed those who stayed behind in Cuba. The rest of the family always met to open presents by the Christmas tree decorated with artificial snow, less reminiscent of the real snow nearby than of the one made of cotton that they had left in Cuba and of the withered flowers in the garden.
This year my husband and I decided to give this gift to our children, grandchildren and nephews: the attempt to revive this family tradition. I did not try to substitute my husband’s grandmother, but rather to pay homage, and as in my family’s memory the recipe also exists, I made the snack for the Epiphany. Try to picture the scene. Our family gathered at home round the Christmas tree decorated with artificial snow made out of cotton, while in the garden the flowers wither under the heat; children and adults enthusiastically open presents, shrieking with delight, and then my three daughters and I make our entrance with the trays. We bring tall crystal glasses filled with the sweet Floating Islands, that wonder that Grandmother made on so many January 6s, and which from now on, as a remembrance of her love, we will make every year.
Ingredients
1/3 cup limejuice
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
4 tbsp cornstarch
3 large eggs
A pinch of salt
Zest from a green lemon
Add salt to egg whites and beat until stiff. Save the yolks.
In a double bottomed flat pot dissolve sugar in water and place over high heat until it reaches boiling point. Lower heat and simmer. Drop teaspoonfuls of meringue in the syrup and turn to cook on all sides. Remove the “islands” with a slotted spoon and place on a flat serving dish until all meringue islands are cooked.
Dissolve cornstarch in limejuice and add previously beaten yolks. Pour the mixture in the syrup through a strainer and stir with a wooden spoon until creamy.
Remove from heat and stand aside to cool.
In a tall glass pour a tablespoonful of lemon cream, a meringue island, another spoonful of cream, and so on, depending on the size of the glass. Finish with a meringue island and top with lemon zest. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Yield: 6 to 8, depending on glass size.
Enjoy your Floating Islands.
Lita Ruiz is a nutritionist. For years she has practiced cooking as a hobby, as well as collecting cookbooks.
