Flan. A friend from Pamplona came to visit, bearing the lightest of gifts: a flan dish, old fashioned aluminium. Weight is negligible, and it is the preferred material to produce a satisfactory outcome.
With the gift was a verbal recipe. Four eggs, and add about 450ccs of milk. Beat. Add sugar to taste. I used about five dessert spoons. Grate a little lemon rind into it.
Put about two and a half spoons of sugar into the flan dish. Don't fret about which size of spoon. Practice makes perfect Heat slowly on stove till dissolved. Swirl around the dish, aiming to coat the dish maybe up to half its height. When it begins to smell caramelised, after giving the egg mixture an extra wee swirl with the beater, pour egg mixture into the flan dish which you have just placed in a big wide pot of simmering water. This is basically the bain-marie idea. Cover the flan dish, and the pot, and simmer for around fifteen minutes. Check with a prong, it has to be dry.. turn heat off, and when possible, remove flan dish from pot. When cold enough, place in fridge. When fully cold, place a plate so the flan dish can be upended on it, tap the dish, or slide a smooth knife around the flan, and there you have it. If you prefer no sugar, sorry... I should maybe have included a health warning? Enjoy.