Jalao

Ingredients

Coconut

• 500 gfreshly grated coconut
• or 400 g desiccated coconut, soaked

To sweeten

• 400 gdark molasses
• or 400 g honey
• or 400 g panela, grated
• 150 mlwater

To flavour

• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cloves
• the zest of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoongrated nutmeg

To finish

• a little butter, for your hands
• cling film or paper, to wrap

Directions

1. Soak it in warm water for twenty minutes. Squeeze it out before it goes in. Jalao should be sticky and chewy. Crack open a mature brown coconut. Drain the water out and keep it to drink. Grate the white flesh coarsely. Put the molasses and water in a heavy pan. Add the cinnamon stick and the cloves.
2. Warm it gently until it loosens. Bring it up to a steady simmer. Add the grated coconut to the pan. Add the lime zest and the nutmeg. Add the pinch of salt as well.
3. Stir it all through thoroughly. Cooking it takes real attention. Let it cook over a medium low heat. Stir it constantly with a wooden spoon. Never stop stirring at any point. Drop a little onto a cold plate.
4. Let it cool for thirty seconds. It should hold together without sticking to your fingers. Cook it longer if it will not hold. The mixture is extremely hot at this stage.
5. Keep children well away from the pan. Finishing it takes only a moment. Take the pan off the heat entirely. Stir in the vanilla at the end. Tip it out into a shallow dish. Spread it out to cool it faster. Let it cool until it is just warm. It must be cool enough to handle.
6. Rub a little butter on your hands. That stops it sticking to your fingers. Take a small piece of the mixture.
7. Roll it between your palms into a ball. Aim for about the size of a golf ball. Set them on a tray to firm up. Give them at least three hours. Wrap each one in cling film or paper. It also stops them drying out. Keep them somewhere cool and dry.

Technique

• Molasses is the syrup left from refining sugar, dark, thick and slightly bitter, and was the cheap sweetener historically because refined sugar was exported while molasses stayed; the Caribbean sugar industry was built on enslaved labour, and sweets made from its byproduct come out of that economy.
• Molasses burns very easily and catches on the bottom within seconds, so stir constantly and scrape the base, since a burnt patch flavours the whole batch.
• The mixture must cool enough to handle but stay soft enough to roll, and that window is quite narrow; test by rolling a small piece that should hold together without sticking.

Substitutions

• Honey or grated panela stand in for molasses, giving a lighter sweet.
• Desiccated coconut works soaked in warm water and squeezed out.

Variations

• Some makers shape them into flat rounds rather than balls.
• Ginger is added to the pot in some households.
• They are wrapped individually exactly as they are sold at stalls.

History

Sold wrapped in plastic at Dominican bus stops and street stalls, one of the oldest island sweets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jalao?

Jalao is a dessert from Dominican Republic: ball of grated coconut boiled with molasses or honey until sticky. Sold wrapped in plastic at Dominican bus stops and street stalls, one of the oldest island sweets.

How long does Jalao take to make?

Jalao takes 20 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 16 balls. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Jalao?

Yes, within limits. Honey or grated panela stand in for molasses, giving a lighter sweet. Desiccated coconut works soaked in warm water and squeezed out.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jalao?

Stir it all through thoroughly. Cooking it takes real attention. Let it cook over a medium low heat. Stir it constantly with a wooden spoon. Never stop stirring at any point. Drop a little onto a cold plate.