Years ago, when Aunt Ilana travelled to Samaná so often that she was practically a resident, she came back from one of her trips with a culinary discovery. Starting now read this post in your head in the voice of Sir David Attenborough, go ahead, it’s very amusing.
Aunt Ilana’s great discovery? Coconut bread. This thick, unleavened bread was sold by street vendors in some remote campo of Samaná. Unfortunately, although she got to try it, she could not get the recipe for it.
Upon hearing the news I was very intrigued. With this as an excuse we set sail for Samaná. OK, we didn’t set sail, we just drove there.
After a night of rest following the long trip (because of the many stops we made to sample the culinary treasures of the stunningly beautiful Samaná) next day I donned my safari outfit and we headed out for the wilderness in search of this most-elusive beast (read “we dressed in shorts and drove to the beach”).
By the shores of Playa Rincón, one of the most stunning beaches I have ever seen, we had an encounter with a lady who made her living from selling pan de coco. We bought about half of what she was carrying, and after we offered her a ride back home – so she could avoid the long walk out of the secluded beach – I got a lesson on how to make Pan de Coco. Although I am confident she will not read this, I nevertheless would like to thank Franca in Playa Rincón, Samaná for sharing her recipe with us.
This unleavened bread is based on the recipe passed on to me by a lady in Samana that makes a living from making and selling these.
The original recipe did not include the coconut crust on top, this is an experiment of mine that I ended up liking, as it adds another layer of texture to the bread. Take into consideration that, because it is unleavened, the bread is pretty "heavy", it is best served with fish or meat with a lot of sauce, as this is best used to scoop it and clean your plate.
I tried doing it both by hand and with the bread machine and both worked, but it is a lot easier with the bread machine (and quicker as it only needed about a minute of kneading).
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes (optional)
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Oil a baking tray. Pre-heat oven to 300 ºF (150 ºC)
- In a deep bowl mix flour, coconut milk, milk, salt and baking soda.
- Flour a clean surface.
- Cover your hands with some oil and knead the dough for about 5 minutes (it should be somewhat-shaggy, hence the oiled hands).
- Divide the dough into four portions and make into balls.
- On an oiled baking sheet flatten the balls into circles of approximately 6 inches in diameter.
- Cover the top with the coconut flakes.
- Bake bread for 10 to 15 minutes, pinch with a skewer in the center to check for doneness (it will still be pale).
- When the bread cools down to room temperature toast quickly but at a very high temperature to get the golden brown color on top.
Aunt Clara's Kitchen is a collection of traditional Dominican recipes, recipes inspired by Dominican flavors, as well as the chronicles of the Aunties' adventures in the kitchen and outside.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I will try this recipe this weekend. Will update you on the result.
thanks for sharing
Elisa
Sounds interesting….but what are the bell peppers for??
Thanks, Jessie. It was an error, fixed now.
This sounds good!
Thank you for sharing this recipe; I had been looking for it for a while. I visited Samana in 2009 and with the help of a distant cousin that lived there, I made it to the la playa del rincon, which is absolutely stunning. He introduced me to the samana coconut bread; I loved it and had been looking for the recipe for a while; I will try making it tomorrow : ) : ) : )
When visiting Samana, please try to get the recipe of “Pan de yautia amarilla con coco”. I would love to try this recipe.
Thanks
I wished to copy this recipe and story but could not….
my son was missionary to the Dominican for 4 yrs , i visited there and we went to beach of samana’ where we bought and tasted the cocnut bread , it was wonderful and i have wanted the recipe , it seemed it had the texter of cornbread almost , is that the way of this recipe?
I love coconut and going to try this now. It looks very tasty and hope I could made it in a right way
. Anyway thanks for sharing this.
They look so appetizing and are so easy to make. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I’ll give them a go. Your photographs are amazing by the way.