Cremat: Catalan flaming coffee with brandy

Brandy and spices burning

We first had cremat by the beach at Can Gelphi in Calella de Palafrugell, Catalonia, Spain;
it's wonderful on a cool evening.  Credible recipes on USENET and the
web cite Colman Andrew's Catalan Cuisine and the "new edition" of
Joy of Cooking; the only difference is 2 versus 3 sticks cinnamon.

Serves 4-6

8 ounces Spanish Brandy, warmed (I use Cardenal Mendoza)
12 ounces Dark Rum, warmed (I use Myers)
3 tbs Sugar, superfine (grind in coffee/spice grinder)
  Peel of 1 Lemon
3 sticks Cinnamon
4 cups Coffee, black, strong, hot

Warm the Brandy and Rum to make the alcohol volatile.
Combine with Cinnamon and Lemon Peel in a flame-proof dish,
preferably a large glazed ceramic dish; stir.
Carefully ignite the mixture; it will flare up and burn.
Let the mixture burn, stirring occasionally, until the alcohol has burned off
sufficiently for the flame to die out (or don't wait);
you can use a metal spoon to stir the coffee, lifting some and
drizzling it back into the dish for a spectacular pyrotechnic display.
Very slowly add the coffee, stirring well;
this should extinguish the remaining flames, but if not, blow it out.
Serve at once in individual cups.
After dousing flames with coffee

$Id: cremat.txt,v 1.3 2004/12/31 21:36:18 chris Exp $