Véritable Pain Coco et Lamelles de Mangue Fraîche, Zestes de Citron Vert

Cette recette de pain coco provient d'un livre que j'ai lu l'été dernier, écrit par la célèbre Ruth Reichl, éditrice du Gourmet magazine (entre autre). Elle a reçu de nombreux prix pour son travail de journaliste culinaire, et d'écrivain en général.
Le livre dont je parle s'appelle Tender at the Bone : Growing Up at the Table, où elle raconte son histoire, ses rencontres et sa passion pour la cuisine depuis son enfance jusqu'à l'âge adulte.
C'est un livre qui se lit très facilement, et qui donne faim. Les quelques recettes parsemées par-ci par-là au détour des pages sont d'ailleurs une invitation à cuisiner, surtout pour la façon dont elles sont introduites, comme si on nous livrait des secrets gardés depuis for longtemps.

J'ai divisé par deux les proportions de la recette originale, et j'y ajoute aussi des fruits exotiques pour le servir en dessert. Seul il se déguste tout aussi bien, il est peut-être un peu plus sec.

Pour finir, voilà le passage du livre qui précède cette recette :

When Serafina finally showed up two days later I realized it was probably a good thing my mother hadn't brought me to college after all. Mom wasn't thrilled about the University of Michigan, and I was going to have to prepare her for my roomate. Serafina was beautiful, with big liquid brown eyes framed by straight, short, skinny black hair. She was smart and funny with an offbeat sense of humor. And her skin, even in winter, was the color of a perfect tan.
But Mom never gave me a chance to prepare her. One day in early October I walked in from English 101 and Serafina said, "Your mother just called. She's flying straight from Paris and she'll be here tomorow. She said she wanted to meet my parents."
"Uh-oh", I said. Serafina's parents were the most generous people I had ever met. They had been in America a long time but they still spoke with a Caribbean lilt, caressing every word before releasing it. When they talked of Guyana it was as if they had just come to Detroit for a visit and would be returning any time. I tried to imagine my mother in their modest apartment but I couldn't picture her there, surrounded by the smell of curry and coconuts.
But Mom didn't ask to go to their apartment. She came barging into the dormitory with a big smile that fell apart when she saw Serafina. She struggled for control, gathered her face together, and held out her hand. "Serafina ?" she said hesitantly.
Later she apologized to me. "I just can't help it. I guess I'm a prejudiced person. It never occured to me that your roomate would be Negro."
"Oh, she's not", I said fervently, parroting what Serafina herself had told me. "Her family is from Guyana. They are of mixed French and Indian blood. They are not Negro." And to prove it I gave her some of the coconut bread that Serafina's mother had sent;
"That's a relief", said Mom, helping herself to a piece.

Pain coco fraîche

- 120ml d'eau chaude
- 60g de sucre
- 1 paquet de levure de boulanger
- 355g de farine
- 110g de beurre doux
- 1 à 2 oeufs (selon leur grosseur)
- 1 c.c. de sel
- 1 c.c. extrait de vanille
- 95g de noix de coco fraîche sans la peau (1/2 petite noix de coco)

Dans un grand bol, mettez l'eau et le sucre et mélangez jusqu'à ce que ce soit dissout. Ajoutez la levure, mélangez et laissez reposer quelques minutes jusqu'à ce que ça "mousse".
 Ajoutez 140g de farine et mélangez jusqu'à obtenir un mélange lisse.
Dans un autre bol, crémez le beurre, l'oeuf, le sel et la vanille jusqu'à ce que ce soit bien mélangé.
Coupez la noix de coco en morceaux et passez au blender jusqu'à obtenir une "poudre" de coco (à défaut, utilisez une râpe pour réduire la coco en poudre). Ajoutez la au mélange de beurre.
Ajoutez la préparation beurre-coco au mélange farine-levure et mélangez jusqu'à obtenir une pâte lisse. Ajoutez le restant de farine, petit à petit. Retournez sur un plan de travail fariné et pétrissez la pâte jusqu'à obtenir une pâte lisse, élastique que vous pouvez former en une boule, comptez environ 10 minutes de pétrissage.
 Déposez la pâte dans un bol légèrement graissé, et laissez doubler de volume en couvrant d'un linge propre.

Donnez un coup de poing dans la pâte pour la dégazer, formez un pâton de la forme que vous voulez et laissez pousser encore 30 minutes couvert d'un linge.
Préchauffez le four à 180°C.
Enfournez pour 50 minutes à 1h, et laissez refroidir sur une grille.

Dessert pain coco, lamelles de mangue fraîche, zestes de citron vert
pour 4 personnes
- 2 tranches de pain coco par personne
- 2 fruits de la passion bien pleins
- 1 mangue bien mûre
- 1 citron vert

Coupez vos tranches et toastez les si vous désirez.
Récupérez la pulpe de fruit de la passion et tartinez en les tranches de pain coco.
Pelez la mangue, et à l'aide de votre éplucheur taillez des lamelles dans la chair.
Disposez les lamelles sur le pain coco en donnant du volume.
Pour finir, râpez un peu de citron vert par dessus avant de servir.

---

English Version

This coconut bread recipe comes from a book that I read last summer, written by the famous Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine (among other things). She received many awards for her food journalism, and her general work in writing. 

The book I'm talking about is Tender at the Bone : Growing Up at the Table, where she tells her story, the people she met, her passion for food, from childhood to grown-up age.

This is a very easy to read book, and I kind of makes you hungry. The recipes in the book make me want to cook : they are given as many well-kept secrets...

Here is an extract from the book, just before the coconut-bread recipe is introduced :

When Serafina finally showed up two days later I realized it was probably a good thing my mother hadn't brought me to college after all. Mom wasn't thrilled about the University of Michigan, and I was going to have to prepare her for my roomate. Serafina was beautiful, with big liquid brown eyes framed by straight, short, skinny black hair. She was smart and funny with an offbeat sense of humor. And her skin, even in winter, was the color of a perfect tan.
But Mom never gave me a chance to prepare her. One day in early October I walked in from English 101 and Serafina said, "Your mother just called. She's flying straight from Paris and she'll be here tomorow. She said she wanted to meet my parents."
"Uh-oh", I said. Serafina's parents were the most generous people I had ever met. They had been in America a long time but they still spoke with a Caribbean lilt, caressing every word before releasing it. When they talked of Guyana it was as if they had just come to Detroit for a visit and would be returning any time. I tried to imagine my mother in their modest apartment but I couldn't picture her there, surrounded by the smell of curry and coconuts.
But Mom didn't ask to go to their apartment. She came barging into the dormitory with a big smile that fell apart when she saw Serafina. She struggled for control, gathered her face together, and held out her hand. "Serafina ?" she said hesitantly.
Later she apologized to me. "I just can't help it. I guess I'm a prejudiced person. It never occured to me that your roomate would be Negro."
"Oh, she's not", I said fervently, parroting what Serafina herself had told me. "Her family is from Guyana. They are of mixed French and Indian blood. They are not Negro." And to prove it I gave her some of the coconut bread that Serafina's mother had sent;
"That's a relief", said Mom, helping herself to a piece.

And for the coconut bread dessert with mango and lime zest :

- 2 slices of coconut bread per person

- 2 big passionfruits

- 1 fresh mango

- 1 lime

Slightly grill the coconut bread slices if you wish.

Take passionfruit pulp and spread some on the bread.

Peel mango and cut some thin strip in it, and put them over the passionfruit pulp on the bread.

Sprinkle some lime zest on top and serve.