Dulce de lechosa

Ingredients

The papaya

• 2 kggreen papaya
• lechosa, unripe and hard
• peeled, deseeded
• cut into long thin strips

For the soak

• traditional, optional
• 3 litreswater
• 2 tablespoonsbicarbonate of soda
• or food-grade pickling lime
• see the note

The syrup

• 1.2 kgpapelón
• or panela, or dark brown sugar
• or 1.2 kg white sugar
• 1 litrewater
• 8cloves
• 2cinnamon sticks
• a strip of lemon peel
• or orange peel
• juice of 1 lemon
• a pinch of salt

Sometimes added

• a splash of rum
• at the end
• a few allspice berries
• a piece of fresh ginger

To serve

• cold, in its syrup
• at the Christmas table
• alongside hallacas and pan de jamón
• with a mild fresh cheese

Directions

1. Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Do not rub your eyes while working. Peel it thickly with a knife or a peeler. Cut it in half and scrape out all the seeds.
2. Rinse it well, which removes most of the latex. This dish uses long thin strips. Cut the halves into long strips. Make them about half a centimetre thick. Keep them a similar thickness so they cook evenly. Soak the strips for two to four hours.
3. Rinse in several changes of water. Never use builders’ or garden lime. Rinse until no slipperiness remains at all. It is very hard and it must be broken up. Chop it with a heavy knife, or grate it. Or dissolve the whole block in hot water slowly. Put the sugar and water in a large heavy pot. Add the cloves, cinnamon and citrus peel. Add the lemon juice and the salt.
4. Heat it gently until the sugar dissolves. It sticks to skin and keeps burning. Keep children well away from the pot. If it touches skin, run cold water over it for twenty minutes.
5. Add the rinsed papaya strips to the syrup. Bring it to a bare simmer. Simmer it very gently indeed. It also drives the syrup too concentrated too fast. Simmer it for two to three hours. Stir it occasionally and very gently. Use a wooden spoon and lift rather than stir. The strips should be fully translucent.
6. Turn off the heat and leave it overnight. Add it at the very end, off the heat. Pack it into clean sterilised jars with its syrup. Fill them while both jars and contents are hot.
7. Seal them at once. A thin syrup will not preserve it. Discard any jar showing mould or fermentation. Never taste from a jar that has bulged or fizzes. Serve it cold, in its syrup. Serve small portions, since it is intensely sweet. Serve it with a mild fresh cheese if you like. Sealed jars keep six months in a cool dark place.

Technique

• Simmer very gently for two to three hours. A hard boil breaks the strips apart and concentrates the syrup too fast, which shrivels and toughens the fruit. Lift with a wooden spoon rather than stirring.
• Stop while the syrup still seems slightly thin. It thickens considerably as it cools, and a syrup that sets solid is overcooked.
• Rest it overnight off the heat. The fruit keeps absorbing syrup, darkens and deepens in flavour; a second simmer the next day gives a denser sweet.
• Use papaya that is completely green and hard with white flesh and white seeds. Ripe fruit collapses to pulp — the green fruit’s ability to hold its shape through hours of cooking is the whole reason it is used.
• Green papaya latex contains papain, which irritates skin and eyes and causes allergic reactions in some people. Wear gloves for a batch this size, wash your hands afterwards and do not rub your eyes. Cooking destroys papain completely, so the finished sweet carries none — the concern is only in the handling.
• Unripe papaya is traditionally avoided in pregnancy in several cultures, and its latex has been linked to uterine contraction in animal studies, with limited human evidence. The atlas records that the caution exists and its basis, makes no medical claim, and leaves it to a doctor.
• Rinse thoroughly after any bicarbonate or lime soak, through several changes of water. Residue tastes soapy in the finished sweet, and if you use food-grade pickling lime — never builders’ or garden lime — rinse until no slipperiness remains at all.
• Boiling sugar syrup is far hotter than boiling water, sticks to skin and keeps burning. Never touch or taste it hot, keep children away, and run cold water over any contact for twenty minutes.
• Eight cloves is not a mistake. Cloves are the defining spice here and some cooks use more still.
• Papelón, unrefined whole cane sugar sold in hard cones, gives the dark colour and molasses depth. Dissolving the block slowly in hot water is easier than chopping it; dark brown sugar substitutes, and white sugar gives a paler, less complex sweet.
• Cut the strips a uniform half-centimetre thick — a mandoline or peeler gives long even ribbons. Uneven strips cook unevenly over three hours.
• The sugar concentration is what preserves this. Fill sterilised jars while both jars and contents are hot, seal immediately, refrigerate if the syrup seems thin, and discard without tasting any jar that has bulged, moulded or fizzes.

Substitutions

• Dark brown sugar replaces papelón or panela closely.
• White sugar gives a paler, cleaner sweet and is also made.
• Bicarbonate of soda replaces pickling lime in the soak, or the soak can be skipped.
• Green mango, chayote or pumpkin can be candied by the same method.
• Allspice or fresh ginger can join the cloves and cinnamon.
• A splash of rum at the end is optional and traditional in some households.

Variations

• Doce de papaia in Cape Verde is the Portuguese-tradition version of the same fruit and method.
• Dulce de cabello de ángel uses spaghetti squash strands in the same syrup.
• Conserva de coco is another Venezuelan Christmas sweet.
• Hallacas, pan de jamón and ensalada de gallina complete the Venezuelan Christmas table.
• A version with the strips lifted from the syrup and dried keeps far longer.
• Dulce de lechosa cooked with white sugar and no cloves is a plainer variation.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dulce de lechosa?

Dulce de lechosa is a dessert from Venezuela: green papaya slices candied in spiced syrup, Christmas sweet.

How long does Dulce de lechosa take to make?

Dulce de lechosa takes 40 minutes of preparation and 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 kg. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Dulce de lechosa?

Yes, within limits. Dark brown sugar replaces papelón or panela closely. White sugar gives a paler, cleaner sweet and is also made. Bicarbonate of soda replaces pickling lime in the soak, or the soak can be skipped. Green mango, chayote or pumpkin can be candied by the same method. Allspice or fresh ginger can join the cloves and cinnamon. A splash of rum at the end is optional and traditional in some households.

What is the most important thing to get right in Dulce de lechosa?

Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Do not rub your eyes while working. Peel it thickly with a knife or a peeler. Cut it in half and scrape out all the seeds.