Taínos Bakery & Restaurant LLC

07/09/2026

Few desserts say Puerto Rico quite like a cool square of tembleque, its name coming from the way it trembles on the plate 🥥 This silky coconut pudding shows up at Navidad, at birthdays, and at any gathering that calls for something sweet and a little nostalgic.

With a handful of pantry staples and a soft dusting of cinnamon on top, it tastes like the island in every spoonful ✨

Serves 8 | Total time about 20 minutes, plus 3 hours chilling

INGREDIENTS
2 cans (13.5 oz / 400 ml each) coconut milk
2/3 cup (135 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (65 g) cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Ground cinnamon, for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Whisk about 1/2 cup of the coconut milk with the cornstarch until fully dissolved and smooth, with no lumps.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
3. Pour in the cornstarch mixture and the vanilla, stirring constantly.
4. Cook, stirring without stopping, 8 to 12 minutes until it thickens into a heavy pudding that coats the spoon and pulls from the sides of the pan.
5. Rinse a mold or cups with water, pour in the pudding, cool a few minutes, then refrigerate at least 3 hours until firmly set.
6. Unmold onto a plate and dust generously with ground cinnamon before serving. Keep refrigerated.

Does tembleque bring back a particular holiday memory for you, and did your family make it plain or top it with a little toasted coconut?

07/09/2026

Nobody ever asks for it, but there would be a riot if it wasn't there.
The pink bowl. The coditos. It shows up at every cookout, every birthday, every graduation, every repast after a funeral, cold from the fridge, right next to the pernil and the arroz con gandules. It is the quiet backbone of every gathering we have ever had, from a backyard in Bayamón to a fire escape in the Bronx to a park in Kissimmee. And every family swears theirs is the right one.
ENSALADA DE CODITOS
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 to 1.5 cups mayonnaise
1 cup cooked ham, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, grated
1/2 cup stuffed olives
2 boiled eggs, chopped
a splash of vinegar, salt, pepper
Boil the macaroni, drain it, and rinse it under cold water so it stops cooking and never turns gummy. Let it cool all the way. Mix the mayo with a splash of vinegar, salt, and pepper, then fold in the ham, pepper, onion, olives, and egg. Stir it into the cold macaroni, chill at least two hours, and fix the salt before it goes to the table. Always better the next day.
Now the real fight. Apple in the coditos, yes or no? Ham or Spam? And what is the one thing your family puts in that nobody else does?
Still here. Still us.

07/08/2026

🍌 You have seen this bowl at every party, every holiday, every gathering. The pale green banana rounds swimming in tangy oil and onions, the dish some people walked right past as kids and now cannot get enough of. Guineítos en escabeche. And it carries a secret that is over a thousand years old.
Here is the "oh wow." That word, escabeche, the tangy vinegar-and-oil method, is not originally Spanish, and not originally ours. It traces back to an ancient Persian dish called al-sikbaj, meat cooked in vinegar. When the Moors ruled Spain, between roughly 790 and 1300 AD, they carried that technique into the Spanish kitchen. Centuries later, Spain carried it across the ocean to Puerto Rico. And here, our people did something new with it: they poured it not over fish or meat, but over the humble green banana, and made it unmistakably ours.
So this simple party side is a thousand-year journey on a plate. Persian, to Moorish, to Spanish, to Boricua. Many roots, one dish. 🇵🇷
Here is how to make it.
GUINEÍTOS EN ESCABECHE
Serves 6 to 8 · about 40 minutes, plus overnight marinade
Ingredients:

8 to 10 green bananas (guineos verdes, as green and firm as possible)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup white vinegar (more for tangier)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup green olives (and capers if you like)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the ends off the green bananas and score the peel down one side. Boil them (peel on or off) in salted water with a splash of vinegar (this keeps them from browning) until fork-tender but still firm, about 10 to 20 minutes. Do not let them go mushy.
Drain and let cool. If you boiled them in the peel, slip the peels off now. Slice the bananas into 1/2-inch rounds and place in a glass or ceramic bowl (never plastic or metal, the vinegar reacts).
Make the escabeche: in a saucepan over low heat, warm the olive oil, sliced onion, and garlic. Cook gently until the onions soften, but do not brown them.
Add the vinegar, olives, capers, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Keep it warm on low, do not let it boil, for about 10 minutes, just until the onions are soft and everything is fragrant.
Pour the warm escabeche over the sliced bananas and gently mix to coat every piece.
Cover and refrigerate, ideally overnight. The longer it marinates, the better it tastes. Stir once or twice if you can.
Serve cool or at room temperature. It keeps in the fridge for up to a week or two.

The classic pairing is with mollejas (chicken gizzards) folded in, many say that is the best version. And the eternal question: do you go heavy on the vinegar for that real briny bite, or keep it mellow? Tell me how your family makes it.

07/07/2026