It’s been years since I ate a coco bread, that soft, sweet, usually warm, folded-over bread that is the perfect folder for the flaky, spicy and usually hot, patty.
Perhaps it might seem redundant to marry a patty, a meat pie, with a puffy, buttery coco bread (one inventive student at my high school called the combination a coco-pat) but it works, somehow.
It’s like biting through layers of dough and finding a sweet spot — the spicy meat filling — the coco bread absorbing the heat that builds in the patties as they bake and tempering its spiciness.
The coco bread and patty combo is a filling, inexpensive on-the-go meal that is popular with everyone, from students to working people.
And because of its price, ubiquitous in Jamaica. Every fast food outlet and food shop sells it. The same is true here in the New York area. In fact, it is even sold online at amazon.com. Despite its popularity, no one I asked could explain why it’s called a coco bread since it’s not made from coconut or cocoa.
But coco bread shouldn’t be confined only to a meat filling. It’s delicious with cheese and, I would add, stews, even soup. And with its buttery flavor, it can even be eaten as is.
Yesterday, the distinctive fresh-baked smell of the coco bread tickled my nose and brought back such delightful memories, I stopped and bought one on the way to work. With a cold blast of winter air here in New York yesterday, instead of a patty, it made me feel for soup. Biting into its warm deliciousness took me momentarily back to the sun.
- 2 packages yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- Dissolve yeast and sugar in water then stir in milk, salt and egg.
- Add 1/2 of the flour and stir, continue to add flour until you have a dough that can be turned out of the bowl.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth but firm.
- Oil a clean bowl and turn the dough in it until coated.
- Cover with a damp towel and let it rise for 1 hour
- Cut into 10 portions and roll each piece into a 6-inch diameter circle.
- Brush with melted butter then fold in half.
- Brush with more butter and fold in half again.
- Set breads on a oiled baking sheet and let them rise until they double in size.
- Preheat oven to 425 F set a pan of hot water on the lowest oven rack.
- Bake for about 12- 15 minutes or until golden brown (on upper rack, set to middle).
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