Ponche crema
Ponche crema is a cream-based liqueur that originates in Venezuela, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Recipes vary depending on the region, but main ingredients typically include milk, eggs, sugar, rum, and other minor ingredients such as vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemon rind. A variant type is prepared with concentrated liquid coffee or instant coffee powder. However, most references to the ponche crema name aim at a traditional commercial product, available since 1900, whose recipe and manufacturing process are kept secret. Ponche crema is a beverage traditionally served during Christmas time, much as eggnog is in the United States. It is usually served cold, in small cups, either as an aperitif or a pousse-café.
The origin of the recipe for this commercial product could not be determined. However, it was the Venezuelan chemist and perfumer Eliodoro González Poleo (Guarenas, 1871- Caracas, January 29, 1923) who introduced it to the market, through his own company, the Central Liquor Store. The first advertisement for the Cream Punch that was created in 1900 and patented four years later, was published in the magazine El Cojo Ilustrado in 1905. Since then, four generations have supported the manufacturing of this drink and have kept the secret of the recipe it contains the exact proportions of the ingredients of the product, whose alcoholic strength is 14 GL. Cream Punch caused a sensation at the 1904 San Luis World's Fair, the first fair that brought together the inventions and novelties of the 20th century. Similarly, the English awarded him the "Grand Prix" in London. He was warmly received at the Bordeaux International Maritime Exhibition and at the Paris Food and Hygiene Show.
For some years, due to its nutritional content, this product was the only alcoholic drink allowed for children, but unlike today, they were given hot to counteract a cold.
The Cream Punch has different versions, some of them commercial although they have not had the success of the original product. In the Venezuelan population of Mucuchíes, one flavored with lemon zest and whipped egg white is prepared. More contemporary is a recipe with auyama (pumpkin), especially for those who cannot or do not want to consume eggs. As the product brand has been registered, like the recipe, no other commercial product can carry the same name.
Several years after the death of Eliodoro González, in 1946 the so-called modern era of Ponche Crema begins when his heirs decide to establish a strategic alliance with two successful businessmen H.L. Boulton and Francisco Monteverde. In 2005, the Anonymous Company Ponche Crema merged with the Centro Liquor Complex to give rise to the Ponche Crema Liquor Complex in Ocumare del Tuy, which continues to manufacture the product, as well as another one developed before that year, called Café Crema with identical ingredients. and with the addition of coffee.