I Can Taste Again
Thank you
For This Meal
Thanksgiving Recipes from Survivors of the Coronavirus
Who Are Approaching the Day With A Renewed Sense of Gratitude.
Angela Llano, 30, believes she got sick with the coronavirus during the first week of April. She developed a fever and body aches, shortly followed by gastrointestinal symptoms. She lost her sense of taste and smell around five days into the experience.
Then, there was that one day when a pot of rice burned on the stove. “It was completely black,” Ms. Llano said from her home in the Bronx where she lives with her boyfriend, who also contracted the virus. Neither of them, who were both home at the time, could smell anything.
Another member of the household, her father, never showed any symptoms, which leads her to believe that he may have been asymptomatic.
Her senses began to return after three weeks. “Everything smelled like cooking gas when I started to smell again,” she said.
Ms. Llano is back to work as a clerk at Northwell Hospital in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, where she’s been for five years. She is completing her final year at St. Joseph’s College, pursuing a nursing degree.
“I want to provide care that is compassionate and not only treat the illness but to create meaningful connections with patients to aid in their recovery,” she said.
This Thanksgiving, she is looking forward to enjoying a flan recipe she fell in love with while in the Dominican Republic. Its sweetness is subtle, and it offers a gentle aroma of cinnamon.
Angela’s Flan
Serves 8 | Time: 55 to 70 minutes
Photograph of Angela Llano, top, is by Jenny Anderson for ISLAND AND SPICE MAGAZINE. The flan, above, includes a hint of salt, which Ms. Llano believes helps to accentuate the sweetness. ISLAND AND SPICE MAGAZINE
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 cinnamon stick
6 eggs
1 (14 oz) can condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Create caramel by placing the sugar, water and cinnamon stick in a saucepan over medium-to-low heat. Wait for the sugar to boil and turn a rich amber color. Remove from heat and pour into a 2-quart, enameled and round Dutch oven. You can also use an 8-inch cake pan or a flan pan. For individual servings, pour into ramekins.
Use a blender to combine the eggs, evaporated milk, condensed milk, vanilla and salt. Pour this filling over the caramel.
Place the flan-filled pan into a larger baking pan. Add water to the larger pan so that the water is about one inch or halfway up the inner pan. Be careful not to get any water into the flan.
Place the pans in the oven. At 40 minutes, check the flan for doneness by poking the center with a toothpick. If the toothpick has any residue, you need to leave it in a bit longer, possibly up to an additional 20 minutes. You want the toothpick to come out clean.
Remove the flan from the oven and from the pan of water. Allow it to cool for one to two hours. Then place in the refrigerator for at least three hours or overnight. Right before serving, work a knife around the flan to help separate the edge from the pan. Turn the pan upside down over your serving tray and gently shake the flan to coax it out.
