Visit Honduras and the odds are that you will have a plato typico served with black beans and a dollop of cream (crema) on the side.

The crema is unlike that we have in North America.  You will hear it referred to as mantequlla blanca (white butter) or mantequilla crema.

I am lucky enough to be able to buy an El Salvadoran imported crema locally, from a Mexican grocery store.  Recently, I received a wonderful tip from Vanessa M., a Honduran-American, on how to make mantequilla blanca from the products we have available here in the States.   For those of you that don't have access, Vanessa suggests:

"We buy a regular tub (8 oz.) of American sour cream and add about 1/4 C of heavy whipping cream.  It makes the crema milder and richer.  Add a pinch of salt and it comes close to what we get at home.

My family eats mantequilla blanca almost every day, with french bread, with fried plantains (you can drizzle the crema on top), you can put it on baleadas."

So, get busy and make some black beans and platanos, and try making some mantequilla blanca to accompany them.

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