Egg Nog Is Also For New Year’s Eve… Or The Entire Year!

The holiday season tends to be very busy, and like so many traditions we limit our enjoyment of certain delights to only one time a year. Among the seasonal holiday culprits we have pumpkin everything, gingerbread, turkey, duck, stuffing, gravy, countless vegetables, cider, egg nog, and the list can go on and on. These ingredients are found plentifully year-round at markets, yet they go ignored for most of their shelf life, waiting for a sale or it’s holiday match. So, why not upgrade your New Year’s Eve with some homemade Egg Nog? You don’t have to fret about not making it earlier!

“It is not, though, necessary nor obligatory to restrict the offering of this drink to this time of the year. By using the following recipe, Egg Nog can be presented with pride all year round. Try it soon, for your next festive home get-together.” – Alex D. Hawkes – The Rum Cookbook (1972)

Throughout the countries in the Caribbean there are innumerable Egg Nog / Eggnog variations that are to be found and enjoyed. Milks, spices, and alcoholic beverages are mixed to the maker’s content. In Puerto Rico, there is a similar nog beverage made with eggs known as “Coquito”, translates to small coconut in English. This creation is concocted by mixing coconut milk with condensed milk, and like all homemade Egg Nog drinks, the results are delicious. Rum, bourbon, whisky, brandy, and cognac are among the alcohols to consider for your personal recipe. The milks that are generally varied are, condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and regular milk.

The spices to consider, and use to your liking, are cinnamon pieces, whole cloves, whole star anise, and whole nutmeg. These spices except nutmeg can be infused in a simple syrup over heat, which is allowed to rest. The infusion is then poured in a thin stream whilst being whisked into the milk and egg yolk mixture. It is not unlikely to find a piece of cinnamon in a bottle, if you’re lucky to have received one as a gift. The results are generally well received, especially for whomever enjoys the last drops.

Among the Caribbean variations, we find one in Cuba, enjoyed in it’s most simple form, a syrup infused with spices, “Crema de Vie” as it is called in the “Pearl of the Antilles”, let us toast to the “Cream of life”.

“The drinkable spirits of the world are considerable in number and diverse in degree of popularity. In terms of world-wide consumption, four types stand out above all others, rum, whisky, gin, and brandy. Rum, particularly the rum produced in Jamaica, is increasing in popularity all over the world.” – Alex D. Hawkes – The Rum Cookbook (1972)

Alex D. Hawke’s Rum Cookbook (1974) was photographed by Jamaica’s esteemed Maria Layocona.

Many countries in the Caribbean are known for their rum. Even Japan produces fine rums! The Antilles is famed for producing quality sugar from their bountiful harvests of sugarcane. The fertile soil in this region is noted for being optimal for growing sugarcane. Major Caribbean distilleries have prevailed adversary, such as Bacardí when their industry in Cuba was expropriated by Fidel Castro during his nationalization of hundreds of domestic and foreign businesses such as, Associated Press, Gillette Safety Razor Co., Remington, Reynolds, Kodak, Hershey’s, The Coca Cola Co., Dupont, Hilton, United Fruit Sugar Co., Exxon Corp., Texaco Inc., General Electric Co., The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Procter & Gamble Co.. Bacardí prevailed since they had established a rum distillery in Puerto Rico in 1937.

“The “Harlem” sugar mill in the Artemisa province was the first to get its machines running in the 2016-2017 sugar harvest. Fifty-three other sugar mills will join in the country’s attempt to leave behind the dreadful results from the last decade, in what was Cuba’s first and most productive industry.” – Cuba’s Sugar Harvest (2016-2017) Begins by Pilar Montes – December 03, 2016 

Bacardí’s move within the Caribbean, from Cuba to Puerto Rico was a worthwhile business venture. The Cuban sugar industry would slowly collapse under the communist regime, suffering a major setback when Russia and the Eastern Bloc lessened trade with Cuba. The Castro regime not only lost rum, which was one of their major exports. They razed their number one export, Cuban sugar, which was noted to produce among the finest of rums in the world. Ask Trader Vic what he served at his restaurant, Trader Vic’s, which opened and closed in 1959, at The Habana Hilton. At the time of it’s construction in Havana, the island’s capital city,  it was the tallest building in all of Latin America.

Rum from the “Pearl of the Antilles”, is comparable in terms of reputation, to the famed tobacco crop, and hand rolled “Habano” cigars from Cuba. Labels such as “Havana Club”, “Ron Matusalem”, “Caribbean Club”, “Ron Varadero”, & “Ron Caney” are among the preferred labels. It is important to note that Bacardí also produces a “Havana Club”, distilled in Puerto Rico, which is a competitor to the Cuban produced rum. Cuba is the largest of the Caribbean islands, and has the most diversified flora in the Antilles, with a large quantity of its species being endemic, meaning that they grow nowhere else in the world.

What better event than New Year’s Eve to anticipate with a few jugs of homemade egg nog? The eggs should be of highest quality, and you are encouraged to visit a local farmer or market to purchase the freshest local variety you can attain. Perhaps you have a chicken roaming in your yard? We followed Alex’s advice and used a Jamaican rum, which was distilled in the Caribbean by Appleton. So far this holiday season we’ve made a batch with Filipino, Cuban & Jamaican rums.

Throughout the Caribbean there are innumerable variations of Egg Nog that are to be found and enjoyed. Milks, spices and alcoholic beverages are mixed to the maker’s content.

Egg Nog – Serves 24

1 bottle (fifth) light Jamaican rum

12 egg yolks

1 1/8th cups of sugar – 226 grams

1 quart whole milk

1 quart heavy cream whipped until stiff but not dry

freshly grated Jamaican nutmeg

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and beat until they are light in colour. Then gradually add the sugar, and beat until the mixture thickens. Stir in the milk and the Jamaican rum. Chill, covered, for 3-4 hours. Pour into a pre-chilled punch-bowl, and fold in the whipped cream. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg. Use whichever nutmeg is available in your market, but the whole nut, rather than already ground.

Myers Original Jamaica Egg Nog – Serves 24

1 bottle (fifth) Myers rum

12 egg yolks

1 1/8th cups of sugar – 226 grams

1 quart whole milk

1 quart heavy cream

freshly grated Jamaican nutmeg

Beat egg yolks with rotary beater until light. Add the sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and pale in colour. Gradually stir in the milk and the dark rum, and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours, stirring often. Turn mixture into a punch bowl, fold in the heavy cream which has been whipped until stiff, and place in refrigerator for an additional one hour. Serve sprinkled with freshly grated Jamaica nutmeg. Use whichever nutmeg is available in your market, but the whole nut, rather than already ground.

For a few other varieties we recommend the cookbook Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America by Dr. Maricel E. Presilla. Dr. Presilla is a chef, restaurateur, chocolate expert, medieval & culinary historian, and as diverse as her book, which is indeed a gem. It contains her adaptation of the Venezuelan “ponche crema”, by Dr. Jose Rafael Lovera, developed at CEGA, the institute of Gastronomic research in Caracas. The cookbook also includes a recipe for “Coquito“. Dr. Presilla’s cookbook was awarded the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year & IACP Cookbook Award in 2013.

There is a also a “Coquito” recipe in another one of Dr. Presilla’s books, illustrated by Maricel’s father Ismael Espinosa Ferrer. An excellent book to share with children with delicious recipes, all listed here, Mazápan – Marzipan with Royal Icing, Mojo Agrio, Adobo Tía Anita – Aunt Anita’s Adobo, & Coquito – Creamy Coconut Drink.

Feliz Nochebuena, Feliz Navidad: Christmas feasts of the Hispanic Caribbean (1994) Henry Holth & Co. 

For more info on Rum check out Rob’s Rum Guide!

Ron Santiago de Cuba ~ Añejo

Holiday Shopping in 1967? Cookbook South Florida Cookery (1964) by Alex D. Hawkes now at all bookstores!

The late Alex D. Hawkes wrote a magical first cookbook, ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964). ‘SFC’ was published and hand bound with enchanting cloth covers by Wake Brook House (WBH), local Coral Gables publisher at that time. Alex lived in Coconut Grove, a relatively colorful neighborhood next to Coral Gables. More info about WBH will be linked at the bottom of this post. ‘South Florida Cookery‘ was advertised by The Miami Herald for the 1967 holiday shopping season with the ad seen above. Alex’s cookbook is certainly that, plus much more. The promotional quote, “How To Use Florida’s Glamorous Foods” is both highly evocative and a sign of the times. It was Alex’s time to shine, and indeed he did, becoming one of Florida’s most esteemed cooks. Who else would be keen enough to publish Papaya recipes by non other than David Fairchild, that were enjoyed in his legendary Coconut Grove, retreat, “The Kampong”? Amazingly, the lush botanical oasis on Miami’s beautiful Biscayne Bay has been preserved, and is used for ongoing plant research, and special events. Dr. Fairchild’s recipes will be shared soon.

Alex D. Hawkes dedicates ‘South Florida Cookery’ (1964) “I would like to dedicate this book to the fond memory of Dr. & Mrs. David Fairchild”

Where have the culinary traditions that once thrived regionally, and across the whole of the United States of America (U.S.A.) gone? The age of convenience has stripped away both a way of living, and also any number of lovely staples that adorned proud dining tables across the country. The countless generations of the cooks in our families that painstakingly perfected and passed these recipes down, must be rolling in their graves! They didn’t have the facility that television and the internet offers, like current generations thoroughly enjoy. The concern at hand is not that we’ve stopped eating or have began to create non glamorous dishes. Among the concerns is that we’ve become increasingly reliant on chefs and restaurants to provide us with these delicious experiences. We look for convenient and simplistic satisfaction when cooking for ourselves either due to lack of experience in the kitchen, or not having enough time. There are other factors and perspectives to keep in mind as well, we do all have to eat everyday.

Like many of the great cookbook authors that have strived to influence our eating habits by introducing foreign cuisines to North America, Alex D. Hawkes ranks high in the list of people that influenced the culinary landscape in all of Florida, and the U.S.A.. From Florida’s northern panhandle to the southern tip of Key West, Alex served us with an avid sense of all things botanical that could be of interest to cooks in the kitchen. Alex found himself to be widely useful and well liked by his colleagues in the world of food writing at the time. This is noted through their various citations and acknowledgements made during his lifetime, and thereafter.

By presenting delicious recipes from his world travels, using a variety of rare fruits & vegetables that were then just beginning to appear in our markets, Alex helped all those raising their hand or eager to jump into the kitchen to experiment. His botanical background literally left no leaf unturned or nut untasted, which ads something fun and interesting to the cooking experience. Alex Hawkes accomplished something like what Alton Brown, current Food Network TV host that shares scientific and botanical tidbits in his cooking show, has successfully done. Alex exemplified a spirit bringing to mind a cross between Alton Brown, Anthony Bourdain, chef and world traveller, and Julia Child, beloved American author and TV host that trained professionally at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, a maven for any cookbook author interested in taking on the role of presenting foreign cuisines to Americans.

The authors mentioned above all served important roles introducing Americans to the cuisines of foreign lands. Many were American, others were foreign, but in the end they shared a common goal of promoting the positive attributes of the U.S.A. through cooking. A few prominent examples: Julia Child – French Cuisine, Diana Kennedy – Mexican, Joyce Chen & Barbara Tropp – Chinese, Felipe Rojas-Lombardi – Peruvian, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz – Caribbean & Latin American. Elizabeth also compiled Alex’s final cookbook posthumously, Alex D. Hawkes – The Flavors of The Caribbean & Latin America: A personal collection of recipes (1977) Viking, New York. There are of course many more such authorities and examples that can be shared. The names mentioned above will help contrast between foreign cuisines and the heritage of the diverse fare that is still alive and well in the U.S.A..

To hook Americans on how rich and diverse our own cuisine was, food writing heavyweights such as James Beard, Edna Lewis, Cecily Brownstone & Jane Nickerson were among those doing their part to help Americans understand, how rich and diverse our ancestors cooked, while promoting the eclectic regional cuisines of the U.S.A.. James Beard covered all of American regional cuisines like his colleague & dear friend Cecily Brownstone who wrote several highly syndicated columns for the Associated Press (AP), over the course of a staggering 39 years. Cecily Brownstone, the most widely published of syndicated food writers, loved to reference Alex’s botanical tidbits whenever she was writing brussels sprouts recipes. We cannot forget Edna Lewis who continued to enamor us with the delights of Southern Cooking. Jane Nickerson who became a Floridian by adoption in 1957 when she handed off the New York Times to Craig Claiborne.

Claiborne who had worked with Ann Seranne and Eileen Gaden prior to Gourmet and the New York Times, was an excellent succeeding writer to Nickerson. The fact that all these writers and characters knew about one another, only makes richer the broth, and helps put into perspective what Alex Hawkes was up to. Craig Claiborne would eventually cover Alex in The New York Times of the 1960s. That article will be shared in another post, stay tuned!

There is no country that devotes more time to watching foreign foods being prepared on television than the U.S.A.. There is no country that investigates and welcomes foreign cuisines to the extent that Americans do, but we leave it up to restaurants and chefs to do the cooking. How does this relate to Alex Hawkes and his ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964) cookbook? Simple, Alex was showing us that the cuisines from all over the world simply tasted better when prepared at home with a good recipe and quality produce, such as the bountiful heaps of fresh Florida fruits and vegetables that were abundant in markets of the 1950s & 1960s. Times haven’t change in Florida, and the farming networks although some say are diminishing, are at least for now providing quality produce all across the states. Historically, Florida “The Sunshine State” has proudly served winter cooks with splendid harvests, when most of the country is having snow pile on their yards.

Many Americans and Floridians are unaware that the great “Sunshine State”, was and still plays an integral part in the agricultural network of the U.S.A., not just in the winter, but all year long. Alex shared a variety of recipes, often times his newspaper food columns were seasonally themed which was fitting, since they were titled ‘Florida Cookery’ and ‘Sub-Tropical Cookery’. Alex also played another role for those that wanted to experience culture through cooking and explore the world via fruits and vegetables, by enjoying foreign fare that they cooked themselves at home.

Here’s some of the cuisines found in ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964) aside from Alex’s American interpretations, international delights & his personal culinary creations. Recipes for Haitian, Jamaican, Bahamian, Cuban, Spanish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, Argentine, Brazilian, Italian, Japanese, Nipponese, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Javanese, Indian, French, Hawaiian, Singapore, Philippine, Burmese, Lebanese, Turkish and Syrian dishes are offered. Alex D. Hawkes was a character of sorts, a cross between Julia Child and Anthony Bourdain, befitting since he travelled the world as a botanist, pleasing his palate and returning back to the U.S.A., eager to share his discoveries with fellow Americans, as did Child.

Here are three full shots of the four known hand bound covers by Wake Brook House of ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964). The fourth cover is partially visible on the photo displaying the stack of some of Alex’s cookbooks. Catch you in “The Tropics”.

Please subscribe to this blog and check out Recipe Lost’s other social media pages via links located at the top, right and bottom of this website. Don’t forget to run out and grab Alex’s book for $5.00…

Miami Herald – Sunday December 3, 1967

South Florida Cookery (1964)

How To Use Florida’s Glamorous Foods

The Ideal Gift

A Handmade Book published by WAKE-BROOK HOUSE (Coral Gables)

At All Bookstores $5

A list of Alex D. Hawkes’ published works can be found via this link. – More books!

For more information about Wake Brooke House visit David Burkam’s website on the subject. Click this link.

Traveling the world through Alex D. Hawkes’ recipes

Traveling the world through Alex D. Hawkes’ recipes… more recipes to come.

Chayote Santa Maria Soup (Nicaragua)

Avocado a la Hawkes

Brazilian Avocado Cream

Garlic Soup with Salsa Fria (Mexico)

Chayote Santa Maria Soup (Nicaragua)

Platanos a puñetazos ~ Tostones

Key To This Pie Is In The Color

What is Sub-Tropic Cookery? Who was botanist & cookbook author Alex D. Hawkes, from Coconut Grove?

Exploring the fruit and vegetable kingdom with the late botanist, and cookbook author Alex D. Hawkes (1927-1977). Recipes, botany and lore of the fruit and vegetable kingdom.

“A World of Vegetable Cookery is a result of combining my interests in botany and cooking over a number of years. My researches on my particular botanical specialties- orchids, palms, bromeliads, and certain other groups of plants have taken me to many parts of the globe. Everywhere I have traveled I have had the opportunity to note the good things that appear from the kitchen or campfire.” – Alex D. Hawkes (1968)

Welcome to Alex’s garden & kitchen… palm and bromeliad expert, orchidologist Alex D. Hawkes shared a lot with us, especially through the recipes he collected, from his world travels as a botanist. We “RecipesLost” hope you get to try some of Alex’s recipes, let us know, try it out, take a chance, have a taste will ya?

Alex D. Hawkes graduated from the University of Miami in the late 1940s as a Botanist. Among his first assignments for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG), in Coral Gables, was documenting the Palms all over the globe. Alex compiled this breathtaking task in a 9 volume work in the early 1950s after traveling the world, while enjoying it quite thoroughly, for the botanical garden. Alex also gathered some papaya “pawpaw” recipes, that will be posted, from his stay at Dr. David Fairchild’s “Kampong” in the Magic City’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Hawkes was keen enough to collect recipes everywhere he went. His vast recipe file, wherever it may be, will reveal a treasure of recipes. To the person guarding it, thank you. The recipes Alex collected, whether if it was from a hotel he stayed at in Nicaragua during one of his botanical adventures discovering colorful orchids, or from the mountains of Peru and Mexico, were wholesome and honest.

Dr. David Fairchild & Alex D. Hawkes in the former’s garden “The Kampong” in Coconut Grove, Florida. (1945-02-15)

The caribbean captivated Alex, it’s influence is shown through Alex’s grasp of the many cuisines that make up the West Indies. The caribbean is the home of many beautiful places, but Alex lived only in two, Cuba & where he passed away, Jamaica, his second home away from beautiful Coconut Grove, FL. in Miami. An adventurer, botanist, cook, writer, columnist & more, Alex D. Hawkes left us recipes, to enjoy cultural experiences, and a taste of the past, which is still as delicious as it once was. He traveled the world, Europe, South America, Latin America, India, Japan, & beyond.

Alex played an integral role in South Florida’s bustling botanical circles. He mimeographed and published several independent papers that are now considered collector’s items, on various subjects. Orchids, Bromeliads, Palms and his culinary writing, the elusive, “COOKERY NOTES”. Alex was the coordinator of The Bromeliad Society of South Florida, Inc., serving as temporary Chairman of the Board. Alex was known for hosting high tea in his Coconut Grove backyard garden. These occasions must have certainly called for lovely Floridian menus.  Alex’s notoriety allowed him to maintain a constant flow of correspondence with his colleagues and readers. If you have found any of Alex’s letters, please contact us.

“Did you know I receive more fan mail weekly than does Marilyn Monroe? … she is now receiving only 80 or so letters a week, while mine runs at least double that!” — Alex D. Hawkes (1962)

Alex’s recipes have been shared and adapted in newspapers by food columnists & cookbook authors in their works. Alex had many friends and shared his mimeographed COOKERY NOTES with countless of acquaintances and food professionals of the era. Authors such as Elizabeth Alston, Nika Hazelton, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, Elizabeth Schneider, Bernard Clayton Jr., Cecily Brownstone, Jane Brody, Ruth Gray, Bertha Cochran Hahn & Jane Nickerson have cited Alex or exchanged letters with him. There are more, we hope, do let us know if you find one folded up inside a cookbook while you peruse it. Contact Us -> #RecipesLost In the late 1960s Mr. Hawkes humbly had lunch with Julia Child and James A. Beard at Joyce Chen’s restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was covered by Craig Claiborne in the New York Times (1960s), and Alex’s cookbooks were mentioned thereafter by Claiborne.

Gourmet the Magazine of Good Living, was at the time the premier magazine for food talk. The magazine featured many seminal figures that helped shape the way America eats. Among the many writers to mention, Gourmet would showcase columns by Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (M.F.K. Fisher), and her occasional wine musings. It was not odd for these pieces to appear alongside writings on an endless variety of culinary ‘Delights And Prejudices‘, by none other than the Dean of American cookery, James A. Beard.

In the October (1964) issue of Gourmet, Alex D. Hawkes joined the ranks of several of the cookbook authors he esteemed. With his first cookbook ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964) hot off the presses, Alex’s food writing career couldn’t have begged for a brighter red carpet. Alex’s piece for Gourmet featuring the squash like Chayote, ‘Sechium edule’, Cucurbitaceae, was as exciting to read, as it was to prepare. The recipes Alex discovered in Mexico & Nicaragua, during his botanical adventures, are culinary time capsules. After being introduced how to prepare chayotes in quite culturally distinct fashions, Alex returned to his Coconut Grove kitchen with the recipes, and shared them with the world. Chayote recipes will be featured in a later post, stay tuned.

Alex continued sharing his recipes, which landed him a food columnist gig for The Miami Herald, after he won a Cook of the Month title in 1963. Alex continued onto the Miami News in the mid 1960s. Then, via his horticultural society connections, he penned a food writing column in North Florida, for the St. Petersburg Times in the late 1960s, via his column ‘Florida Cookery’, seldomly ‘Southern Cookery’. By the 1970s Alex was dividing his time between Jamaica, and Coconut Grove. In the Caribbean, he was maintaining a daily radio program ‘What’s Cooking’ on Radio Jamaica, cooking TV appearances, & varied columns for The Jamaica Gleaner, on topics such as sightseeing, horticulture, botany, & of course recipes.

Never forgetting his Floridian roots, Alex, simultaneously maintained his ‘Sub-Tropic Cookery’ for The Lakeland Ledger, in central Florida. Jane Nickerson, ex Food Editor of the New York Times, moved to Lakeland, and took on the role of food editor at The Ledger. ‘Sub-Tropic Cookery’ by Alex Hawkes, was an excellent column for Jane Nickerson to have in her food section, since the cuisine in Florida was being shaped quite differently than the rest of the United States of America. This is due in part to the rather recent availability of imported varieties of lesser known rare fruits & vegetables in markets across the U.S.A.. The state’s markets were being influenced by the various cultures, that were all then, calling “The Sunshine State” their new home.

“Though I have been collecting recipes for the use of all types of vegetables for a considerable number of years, it is only comparatively recently that many of the less familiar ones have become available in the United States. This is, to me, very exciting, since this condition opens up a wondrous new field of inventive cuisine.” – Alex D. Hawkes (1968)

Florida also was increasing their production of various culinary staple items that are integral to the cuisines of many foreign lands. Crops such as ginger, chayotes, green beans, radishes, watercress, corn, zucchini, squash, strawberries, guavas, papayas, mangos and plenty more delicious gourds were being grown commercially in the 1960s & 70s in Florida. Alex’s column was surely there for you during Mango season, of course! He’s from Coconut Grove like Mr. Haden, whose wife Florence cared for the mango seedlings brought down via sailboat from West Palm Beach. After her husband’s passing, she had the varietal named “Haden” after the good Captain from Coconut Grove. It is claimed that the original Haden Mango tree is still standing in “The Grove”, on land that was once lived on by the Matheson family. – Photograph of what is believed to be the original ‘Haden’ tree, located in Coconut Grove, Florida

Florida Cookery (St. Petersburg) Early

Florida Cookery (St. Petersburg)

FOR GOURMETS ONLY (Miami Herald) Recipes by Alex Hawkes

Sub-Tropic Cookery (Lakeland)

The United States has always been regional, The Great West, The North West, The Eastern Heartland, New England, Creole & Acadian, Southern Style & Florida somehow gets left out of the South. Although not part of the Caribbean, it’s the only subtropic state in North America. Alex Hawkes took full advantage of the knowledge he picked up during his world travels, and assisted Americans with the bountiful heaps of tropical fruits and vegetables that were to be found in their markets.

The United States is perhaps the first country to seek out cuisines from all corners of the globe and make it possible via cookbooks, supermarkets and strong agricultural networks. Alex was interested not just in bringing the recipes home, but also sparking curiosity about how something grew or where it originated. He was able to highlight a vegetable, whether it was misunderstood, or avoided and create something unique yet simple.

Alex authored hundreds of articles & botanical books. For a list of his cookbooks follow this link -> Alex D. Hawkes – Botanical Works & Cookbooks.

‘Sub-Tropic Cookery‘ is maintained by the Recipe Hunters @ #RecipesLost. A food history & recipe scavenging project. Share with us via the tag #RecipesLost or send us your recipe request. Have a question or request of what do make or what to do with a fruit or vegetable? Looking for an interesting side dish? Send us an email at RecipesLost@gmail.com ~ Oh yeah! If you have any copies of Alex’s COOKERY NOTES please let us know! Thank you.

Image: Cookery Notes – November 1967 – Vol. 4, No. 1 – Fondues For Everybody! – We would like to thank Mr. John Banta who provided us with a few Volumes of Alex Hakwes’ COOKERY NOTES. If you find any pages, please let us know, thank you!

Chicken Coconut Grove: Chicken à la King Baked Inside Coconuts!

Alex D. Hawkes lived many years in the beautiful neighborhood known as Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida. Sitting on Biscayne Bay, “The Grove” is a small neighborhood that houses some of the earliest structures in all of Miami & Dade County. It is covered with an innumerable amount of flora, oak trees, impressive banyan trees that cover Main Highway, and many more luscious plants. It is among the best areas in Miami to gain a perspective of what Miami, “The Magic City” looked like prior to roads and the automobile, and the “tremendous destruction of our forests and fields through the process of “civilization”” — (Alex D. Hawkes, American Fern Journal, 1964)

With such scenic and historical locations such as The Barnacle Historic State Park, inhabited by one of the first residents of what was then  called the “Scrububs”, Kirk “Commodore” Munroe, and his wife Mary Barr. Another gem still available for the public’s enjoyment is Dr. David Fairchild’s “Kampong”, built by the Dr. and his wife Marian Hubbard Bell, daughter of Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel Gardiner Hubbard. Nestled in Coconut Grove you’ll find the breathtaking “Kampong” adorned by mother nature herself, a lush botanical paradise sitting against Miami’s Biscayne Bay. When Graham Bell stayed at “The Kampong” he insisted on not having a telephone installed in the cottage he lodged at. Peculiar, noting that Graham Bell is noted as one of the inventors of the telephone. When visiting Miami and Coconut Grove, this botanical oasis is not to be missed, when in “Grovite” Alex’s hometown.

Although the Coconut Grove neighborhood is currently undergoing harsh renovations, as it has been for quite some time, let us revel in this dish and the history that surrounds this recipe and Alex’s inclination to name this creation as he did. While houses can be torn down, this recipe should never be put to rest. The recipe for Chicken Coconut Grove was fittingly devised in Alex’s Coconut Grove kitchen. It’s unique not solely because the name of the dish matches the town, but also because, botanist Alex D. Hawkes was a renowned palm expert.

Alex’s shares with us in his first cookbook, ‘South Florida Cookery‘ (1964) that it is not known where the Coconut, one of the best-known of all palms, is native. The ‘Cocos nucifera’ means “nut bearing”, and as Alex shares this is certainly appropriate. Perhaps botanists have already figured out where it is indigenous? If not Alex and his more learned colleagues were certainly going nuts over coconuts for a good reason. Alex also shared that South Florida is the only place in the Continental United States where Coconuts can be grown outside without protection. As is such, let us enjoy this delicious Chicken Coconut Grove out of coconut shells. Seek out coconut wherever you may be and partake of this quite ingenious culinary creation ‘Chicken Coconut Grove’.

Reminiscing on supermarket staples of the 1950s & 1960s, Chicken à la King has an interesting story. Rather than using a modern day canned equivalent or a Chicken à la frozen food section, we sought out direction from The Dean of American cooking, someone whom Alex D. Hawkes was very familiar with, James A. Beard. In James Beard’s American Cookery (1972) [Little, Brown & Company] there’s a wonderful recipe for this dish. Thanks to google we can retrieve a preview of that recipe from Beard’s book at the link below.

Chicken à la King – Beard’s American Cookery (1972) Little, Brown and Company – RECIPE

In the article linked below, another one of Alex’s pen-pals, Craig Claiborne shares a nibbling about Chicken à la King, along with a recipe that he originally shared via his food column in a 1980s edition of the ‘The New York Times’. The article linked below was written by Leah Koenig.

Lost Foods of New York City: Chicken à la King

Notice Hawkes & Beard both call for Sherry (Chinese Shaoxing rice wine), may also be used. The wine should be added during the sauté if used. The coconut water, is added before the sawed coconut shells are put into the oven. Choose whichever recipe you like best and cook over the stove until it is about 50% done. Then, transfer the mixture into the coconut shells as Alex instructs, and finish cooking the dish in the oven. It is recommended to use a thermometer and adjust times as needed for your oven. Use best judgment and exercise caution when cutting the coconut shells with a saw, and during cooking. Use a drill to puncture the “eyes” of the coconuts. Enjoy!

CHICKEN COCONUT GROVE – Alex D. Hawkes

4 fresh semi-ripe coconuts
3 cups chicken à la king (Recipes linked above)
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup coconut water
1/8 ts Cayenne pepper
2 ts minced chives
4 thick slice Cuban, or French, bread
3 Tbsp flour

The Chicken Coconut Grove recipe also appears in Mandy Baca’s book “The Sizzling History of Miami Cuisine: Cortaditos, Stone Crabs and Empanadas“