Rumpopo

Ingredients

The base

• 6egg yolks
• pasteurised if possible
• see the note
• 1 tincondensed milk
• about 400 g
• 400 mlevaporated milk
• 300 mlwhole milk

The flavouring

• 250 mllocal dark rum
• or to taste
• 1 teaspoongrated nutmeg
• 1 stickcinnamon
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• a pinch of salt

Sometimes added

• a strip of lime peel
• 2cloves
• a little grated ginger

To serve

• well chilled
• in small glasses
• with nutmeg grated over

Directions

1. Use them if you are at all concerned. It is very easy to drink too much of. Keep it genuinely cold at all times. Warm the milks together in a pan. Combine the three milks first. Warm them gently rather than boiling. Add the cinnamon stick to them. Let the spices infuse in the warm milk. Give it about ten full minutes.
2. Add the lime peel and cloves as well. Keep it below a simmer throughout. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl. Beat them until pale and slightly thick. That takes a couple of minutes. Pour a little warm milk into the yolks.
3. Add it slowly while whisking constantly. Adding hot milk fast scrambles them. Take a full minute over doing it. Pour the tempered yolks back into the pan. Pour it back in a steady stream.
4. Whisk the pan constantly as it goes. That keeps everything combined. Cook it gently until it thickens. Keep it on a genuinely low heat. It must never boil at any point. Stir it constantly with a spoon. Do not stop the stirring at all. Pour the custard through a sieve. Straining gives a smooth result.
5. Let the custard cool completely. Alcohol added to hot custard evaporates. Cool it right down completely first. Stir it occasionally as it cools. That stops a skin forming on top. Cool it reasonably quickly rather than slowly. A bowl of cold water speeds it up. Warm custard sitting out is a risk. Get it cold and then refrigerate it.
6. Stir the rum into the cold custard. Add it gradually while whisking. Whisk it in steadily and smoothly. Taste it as you go on adding it. Adjust it to your own taste entirely. Stir in the vanilla and nutmeg. Add the pinch of salt as well.
7. Grate it fresh if you possibly can. It stops it tasting flat and cloying. Pour it into clean dry bottles. Sterilise the bottles if you can. Fill them and seal them tightly. It is served genuinely very cold. Add a little milk if it is too thick.
8. Shake the bottle before pouring. Serving it is done genuinely very cold. Shake the whole bottle well first. Shake it every time before pouring. Pour it out into small glasses. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top. A small glass is quite enough. Discard it if it smells at all sour.

Technique

• This contains egg yolks and the method here cooks them into a custard, which is what makes it safe — some versions do not cook them at all and carry a real salmonella risk. Heat the custard to about eighty degrees, which deals with salmonella while staying below the scrambling point, and use a thermometer to be certain. Pasteurised eggs remove the risk entirely and work perfectly well; use them if you are at all concerned, and particularly for anyone pregnant, very young, older or with low immunity.
• Alcohol does not sterilise the drink or make raw egg safe — that belief is genuinely mistaken, since the alcohol level here is far too low. The heating is what makes it safe, so do not rely on the rum at all.
• Temper the yolks by pouring warm milk into them slowly while whisking constantly, then return them to a low pan and stir without stopping, scraping the base. It must never boil at any point: egg proteins set at a low temperature and sudden heat makes them set in lumps, which cannot be undone.

Substitutions

• Lime peel, cloves and grated ginger are common additions to the milk infusion; strain them out with the custard.
• This is a strong alcoholic drink whose sweetness hides that entirely, making it very easy to drink too much of — worth saying plainly. Two hundred and fifty millilitres of rum is a guide and some households use considerably more, so adjust to taste but know what is in it.

Variations

• Cool the custard completely before the rum goes in: alcohol added hot evaporates, losing both strength and flavour, and can split the mixture. Cool it reasonably quickly in a bowl of cold water rather than letting it stand warm, then refrigerate.
• It contains milk and cooked egg and must stay refrigerated throughout, keeping about two weeks. Alcohol slows spoilage somewhat but does not prevent it — refrigeration is what keeps it safe. Discard it if it smells at all sour.
• Rompope is the Central American name and rumpopo the Belizean Creole form, the sound shifting as it was adopted; it descends from the egg-based drinks made in Spanish convents, which spread through the colonies.

History

Belize’s Creole version of the Central American rompope, itself descended from Spanish convent eggnog; it is bottled at home each December.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rumpopo?

Rumpopo is a cocktail from Belize: creamy Christmas eggnog of local rum, condensed milk, egg and nutmeg. Belize’s Creole version of the Central American rompope, itself descended from Spanish convent eggnog; it is bottled at home each December.

How long does Rumpopo take to make?

Rumpopo takes 30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rumpopo?

Yes, within limits. Lime peel, cloves and grated ginger are common additions to the milk infusion; strain them out with the custard. This is a strong alcoholic drink whose sweetness hides that entirely, making it very easy to drink too much of — worth saying plainly. Two hundred and fifty millilitres of rum is a guide and some households use considerably more, so adjust to taste but know what is in it.

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

Use them if you are at all concerned. It is very easy to drink too much of. Keep it genuinely cold at all times. Warm the milks together in a pan. Combine the three milks first. Warm them gently rather than boiling. Add the cinnamon stick to them. Let the spices infuse in the warm milk. Give it about ten full minutes.