Now that Chef Alex Ureña is reintroducing leche frita to the menu at Pamplona, one might assume it’s a riff on café con leche, considering his Dominican heritage. Sure there’s plenty of leche, and yes it's a riff, but the dessert whose full name is citrus leche frita, is a spin on a traditional Spanish sweet that translates to fried milk.
This twist on this classic dessert consists of three golden pillows atop a slick of orange-flavored sauce cozied up to a blob of mint ice cream. “In Spain it’s usually just sweet; we decided to add citrus,” Ureña notes. There’s a reason it’s called fried milk, upon piercing the coating of the little packages, a creamy liquid singing with lime and orange flows forth. Combined with the mint ice cream and the citrus sugar-coated crust, it’s simultaneously rich and refreshing. Think of it as a grownup Creamsicle.
Although Ureña spent some time with Spain's Ferran Adrià, whipping up this dessert doesn’t involve any of the bells and whistles of molecular gastronomy for which Adrià is best known. Basically it’s a custard made from sugar, milk and eggs spiked with orange and lime zest that’s then frozen, breaded and deep fried. To up the citrus quotient, the milky pouches are coated with sugar blended with lime and orange rinds that have been boiled, dried and then ground. Not sure if Pamplona serves Sidecars, but coating the rim of the glass with this citrus sugar would surely take this classic cocktail to the next level.
Pamplona, 37 E. 28th St., 212-213-2328
