Although Frida Kahlo is best known for her striking and emotionally revealing self portraits, she created about 40 still life paintings that provide just as much insight into her preoccupation with death and her overwhelming loneliness. I was recently given an anthology detailing Kahlo’s entire body of still life paintings and have become so enamored with her work that I will be completing a five part series of my favorite artworks. This is not the first time Kahlo’s art has appeared on this site and I hope by the end of this series you will adore her work like I do.
Frida Kahlo, Lágrimas de coco (Coconut Tears), 1951
Oil on masonite, 22.8 x 29.8 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Coconuts are a familiar foodstuff in many of Frida Kahlo’s still life paintings. The nut is differentiated in many of the works from the other fruits and vegetables because it has anthropomorphic eyes. In the painting Coconut Tears, the coconut weep and make eye contact with the viewer. The Spanish title Lágrimas de coco is a pun on the phrase lágrimas de cocodrilo, crocodile tears – meaning insincere tears because as the story goes, crocodiles cry to lure their prey closer or they shed tears as they consume them (1). This painting was completed as a companion painting to Coconuts (a work of a similar size and nature depicting a weeping coconut peeking out at the viewer from behind a large slice of watermelon) and was commissioned by physician friend of Kahlo’s who returned the work after picking up on the joke.
{Coconut Milk Ice Cream with Caramelized Papaya & Lime}
This creamy dessert is spiked with sour limes and fresh ginger. When paired with the hot fruit, the richness of the coconut is brought to the forefront of the palette. The ice cream will keep for up to 4 weeks in the freezer. Wonderful when served after spicy food, like the chipotle chicken enchiladas. This dish was adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit, July 2002 magazine.
Yield: 4 servings
ice cream ingredients:
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 tablespoon natural ginger uncrystallized, finely minced
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Papaya, sliced into wedges
1/2 lime, thinly sliced
Combine all of the ice cream ingredients into a freezer safe container. Stir well, ensuring the salt and sugars have dissolved. Place in freezer and stir every 30 minutes to break up ice crystals to ensure the ice cream is smooth.
Once the ice cream has set, after about 3 to 4 hours, melt the butter in a skillet and add the brown sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Place the sliced fruit in the hot skillet and flip after 30 seconds or once golden. Serve together with the ice cream immediately.
This is the first post in a five part series examining the still life paintings of Frida Kahlo.
i love the flavor of coconut in creamy desserts – and ice cream is by far my favorite! love it!
Looking forward to more on Frida. Yum! I was actually just wondering what to do with the papaya sitting in the fridge, it was starting to look a bit sad. Thanks for the great idea. Coconut milk ice-cream sounds very, very good :)
Beautiful color on a cold winter day.. caramelized papaya is a great idea!
Frida Khalo is one of my all time favourite artists, and coconut is one of my all time favourite ingredients, so this post is right up my alley :D
What a fabulous ice cream and combo! delightful!br /br /Cheers,br /br /Rosa
I like Kahlo although I admit I don#39;t know a lot about her (although I did see that movie… ;) ) Your photos are so beautiful, I love the softness you imbue your subjects with.
I love Frida Kahlo#39;s work. She is one of my favorite artists. I didn#39;t notice her frequent use of coconuts before.br /br /This ice cream sounds awesome especially with the fruits you serve with it. Frida would be proud.
I#39;m usually not a fan of cococonut but this sounds great! Great idea serving with caramelised papaya and lime!
Happy New Year Megan, have a blessed one and what a lovely, lovely recipe. The tropical flavours are right up my alley!!!!!!
Cool new design too….
Love the coconut ice cream recipe – and you don’t need a churner? Brilliant!
The bit about coconut tears is fascinating. I love all the art tidbits that you share!
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Claudia
http://paintingdrawing.net
I’m very excited you’re going to be doing a Kahlo series. This is an amazing start!
Wow! How yummy does that look? Coconut ice cream…one of my faves.
Love the new site!
you are so creative.love Fridas body of work and you do great justice with your art.Keep on working this site.
[...] Coconut Milk Ice Cream with Caramelized Papaya & Lime Tags: Kahlo, Menu Category: Menu, Mexican This entry was posted Monday, 8 March, 2010 You [...]
How long does the ice cream usually take to set up? I want to make this for a class presentation but the class is at 9 in the morning and I’ll either have to leave it overnight in the freezer (would that ruin it?) or wake up really early to make it.
Great website by the way! A very successful combination of two of my favorite things, food and art! :)
Awesome blog I enjoyed reading your info