Coquito (1957)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   One more for tonight.  From Aaron Sanchez's LA COMIDA DEL BARRIO: LATIN
-AMERICAN COOKING IN THE U.S.A. (2003), pg. 216:

      _COQUITO (coconut eggnog)_
   Coconut eggnog, a national treasure of Puerto Rico, is the quintessential
holiday drink.  Homemade _coquito_ is served to visitors throughout the
extended Christmas holidays, which are celebrated in Puerto Rico and throughout much
of the Caribbean from early December through mid-January, and it is also a
frequent Christmas present in a "from our home to your home" way.  I know it may
sound strange, but I don't put egg yolks in this eggnog.  I find it to be too
heavy, and people are a little squeamish about drinking raw egg yolks.  Serve
it out of a coconut shell if you want to get extra fancy.  With a whole
bottle of rum in the recipe..welcome to a Latin party!


   OED has "coquito" meaning a "palm tree," with no other definition.   There
are about 300 English-language Google hits for "coquito" and "egg."
   What does one make of the 1957 Caribe Hilton "Joe the Bartender" story?


(PROQUEST)
      Fiesta Quisqueyana
              The Washington Post, Times Herald  (1959-1973).
Washington, D.C.: Sep 9, 1971.                p. D8 (1 page)


(ANCESTRY.COM, FROM AN ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY)
   23 December 1967, APPLETON POST-CRESCENT (Appleton, Wisconsin), pg. A11,
col. 1:
   One wonderful island custom is the "asalto," literally "the assault."
This occurs during the holiday season as groups of people visit a friend and
force him to throw a party.
      _Stock Cupboards_
   The wise householder is stocked up with "pasteles," a pork and plantain
meal boiled in banana leaves, and "coquito," a drink of rum, coconut milk and
cinnamon.


(PROQUEST)
  International Bartender Has Own Brand of Magic
       By Katharine Elson.       The Washington Post and Times Herald
(1954-1959).       Washington, D.C.: Sep 20, 1957.                   p. C4 (1 page)

   His ("Joe the Bartender"--ed.) first assignment took him to the Caribbean
to oversee the opening of the Caribar at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
   Infected by the lush setting of his new address, Joe soon devised such
rummy creations as the Coquito, served in a coconut shell, the Coucou Comber, to
be sipped out of a cool green cucumber, and the Tropical Itch, a magic brew
rich with tropical fruit and served complete with back scratcher to take care of
any consequent itch.