Rompope (Mexican eggnog)

Rompope (“rohm-POH-pay”) is frequently called “Mexican eggnog.” It usually contains eggs, milk, vanilla flavoring and rum. Rumpope was first made at a convent in Puebla, Mexico in the 1600s. The drink is popular around the Christmas holiday, just as regular eggnog would be.
 
Rompope is commercially available in the United States and is used also in several desserts, such as tres leches (three milks) cake and even in a gelatin dessert. Rompope started appearing in popular Southwestern cuisine cookbooks in the 1990s.
   
   
Wikipedia: Rompope 
Ingredients
Rompope is an eggnog-like drink made with eggs, milk, and vanilla flavouring. The egg yolks impart a yellow hue to the emulsified beverage. It is a traditional drink in Mexico, where it was made in the convents of the city of Puebla. The word “rompope” is a derivation of the word POPE, which is used to describe the Spaniard version of eggnog that came to Mexico from Spain. Also, ROM utilizes rum as its main ingredient.
 
History
Rompope is one of many versions of the varied combinations of egg yolk, milk, sugar, and alcoholic spirits that are traditionally used for many celebrations in Europe and the Americas. Dutch advocaat is one that is known throughout the world. English eggnog, a descendent of the milk and sherry mix called “posset”, and American eggnog made with either rum or bourbon are both similar to rompope. Spain was the original source of the recipes for egg punch that eventually arrived in the Spanish colonies. There are different close relatives of rompope in several countries (where local spirited drinks are incorporated into the mix), but it was Mexico in which rompope became a widely known beverage. Mexican rompope is mainstream, and there are several popular commercial brands of this drink widely available in international markets. Mexican rompope is typical of recipes that came out of the convents during Colonial period, particularly from Puebla de Los Angeles. The original Mexican rompope beverage was created in Puebla’s Convento de Santa Clara in the 17th century.
 
Obtaining Rompope
Rompope is made commercially throughout Mexico. Although trade brands are mainstream, many locals prefer to make it at home. Several ingredients are sometimes added to the drink, including pecans, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, pine nuts, vanilla, strawberry and other local ingredients. Besides the holidays, locals drink rompope on family celebrations, and in addition to being a beverage, rompope is included in desserts. Commercial rompope is available in the United States, particularly in the states bordering Mexico.
 
About.com: Mexican Food
Rompope- A Mexican Egg Nog
This thick, creamy egg drink is a holiday favorite. If you like your usual egg-nog, try making some Rompope, flavored with almonds and rum. You can garnish it with a cinnamon stick for extra flavor, or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon on top. Enjoy it as an after dinner drink or anytime a festive beverage is called for. Enjoy!
   
Gourmet Sleuth
Rompope
Rompope is the Mexican version of egg nog and is traditionally spiked with Rum. According to Karen Hursh Graber the drink started at the Convent of Santa Clara in Puebla, Mexico back in the colonial period. Today Rompope is produced commercially and widely available in Mexico and the U.S.  As always the best product is the one you make at home.
 
Another Rompope favorite is the gelatin dessert flavored with the nog called Gelatina de Rompope.
 
I N G R E D I E N T S
4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
3 inches canela (cinnamon bark)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 egg yolks
1/2 cup brandy
I N S T R U C T I O N S
In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, mix together the milk, sugar, cinnamon bark and baking soda.  When it begins to boil, lower the heat stand simmer for about 20 minutes.  Set aside to cool, and strain to remove the cinnamon bark.
 
Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk or beat with an electric mixer about 5 minutes. , until thick and lemon yellow.  While still beating, slowly, pour the cool milk mixture into the yolks.  Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat., stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and lightly coast the back of a wooden spoon.
 
Remove from the heat and stop the cooking by pouring the rompope into a bowl (preferably metal) that is resting on ice in a larger bowl.  Stir until cool. Gradually stir in the brandy and its ready to serve, or it can be tightly covered in the refrigerator.
 
Texas Cooking
Rompope (Mexican Eggnog)
Rompope is strong, sweet and meant to be sipped, so small glasses are in order. Refrigerated, it will keep indefinitely.
1 quart whole milk
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup finely ground almonds or almond meal (optional, see Note)
12 egg yolks
2 cups light rum or brandy
Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon stick (and ground almonds, if you are using them) in a large saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature.
 
Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemony. Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk mixture, and gradually whisk the egg yolks into the milk mixture. Return to low heat and, stirring constantly, cook until mixture coats a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
 
Add the rum or brandy to the mixture, stir well. Transfer to a container and and cover tightly. Refrigerate for 1 or 2 days before serving. Makes 1-1/2 quarts.
Note: While not strictly traditional, many Mexican cooks believe ground almonds improve the texture and lend a delicate flavor to Rompope.
 
Mexico Connect
Rompope: Mexico’s Holiday Season Beverage
© 2006 Karen Hursh Graber
 
Rompope, or “Mexican eggnog,” is one version of the many combinations of egg, milk, sugar and spirits that are traditionally used to toast the winter holidays in Europe and the Americas. English eggnog, a descendent of the milk and sherry combination called posset, German biersuppe made with beer, Puerto Rican coquito made with coconut milk, Peruvian biblia con pisco made with pisco brandy, and American eggnog made with either rum or bourbon are all close cousins of Mexico’s rompope.
 
Spain, where ponche de huevo or rompón is prepared for the holidays, was the original source of the recipes for egg punch that found their way to the Spanish colonies. There are versions of rompope in nearly all Latin American countries, where local spirits are incorporated into the drink. But it was in Mexico, where the colonial nuns created so many culinary delicacies, that rompope became a national signature drink. And it is Mexican rompope that is popular and widely available in several countries.
 
Rich, sweet and spicy, Mexican rompope is typical of the baroque recipes that came out of the colonial convents, particularly those of Puebla, home of mole poblano, chiles en nogada, and a variety of typical Mexican sweets. The original Mexican rompope was elaborated in Puebla’s Convento de Santa Clara in the early 1600s.
(...)
In addition to the holidays, Mexicans drink rompope on other festive occasions, and children are often permitted to have a small serving on a birthday or saint’s day. It is most often sipped as a liqueur or served over ice. Besides being offered as a beverage, rompope is incorporated into several desserts, including a version of tres leches (three milk) cake and rompope mousse. It is a popular topping for fresh fruit, especially mangos and strawberries, and there are even rompope flavored gelatin powders.
 
Google Books
Cuentos Ticos: Short Stories of Costa Rica
by Ricardo Fernandez Guardia
translated by Gray Casement
Cleveland, OH: The Burrow Brothers Company
1905
Pg. 242:
Harassed by domestic tyranny, Don Telesforo began to tipple, at first taking rompope,* but later brandy and other strong liquors, which caused some disorder in his ideas.
*(Author’s note.) A cold punch made of eggs, milk, sugar and brandy.
 
Google Books
The Wedge:
A Novel of Mexico
by Hermann Bacher
New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company
1935
Pg. 144:
Rompope is a well-shaken mixture of aguardiente and raw eggs.
 
23 November 1941, New York (NY) Times, “Christmas in Mexico,” pg. XX4:
The hilarious posadas start about Dec. 15 and continue to Christmas Day, when hostesses spread their tables with bunuelos, sweet tomales, and rompope, the latter a glorified eggnog.
 
Google Books
Eating in Mexico
by Amando Farga
Mexican Restaurant Association
1963
Pg. 302:
ROMPOPE—A nutritive beverage, made with spirits, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring.
   
Google Books
The Food and Drink of Mexico
by George C. Booth
Los Angeles, CA: Ward Ritchie Press
1964
Pg. 163:
Rompope is a sort of egg nog base that is produced in Tenancingo and made famous under the arcades in Morelia. It is spooned up by women and children like ice cream, and mixed with brandy by the men.
 
Should you care to make a batch for an important anniversary, here’s how.
 
Rompope
2 qts. milk
2 lbs. sugar
Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and clove
1/4 qt. alcohol (1 1/2 qts. if using 100 proof rum and add a tsp. vanilla)
10 egg yolks
 
Boil the milk, sugar and spices until thick. Remove from fire. When cool, skim and add alcohol very slowly. beat the eggs until thick and then add to milk slowly, beating constantly. 

Google Books
Mexico: An Extraordinary Guide
by Loraine Carlson
Chicago, IL: Rand McNally
1971
Pg. 44:
Other regions also produce their own traditional beverages. Rompope, a milk-and-rum drink, is a specialty in Michoacan.
 
Google Books
The Art of Living in Mexico
by William J. Reed and William C. Malton
Wilkie Publishing
1974  
Pg. 286:
Rompope: A thick eggnog, heavily laced with rum. Formerly made at home, it is usually now bought bottled.
   
30 December 1976, Washington (DC) Post, “Mexican Egg nog: Recipe ROMPOPE” by Marion Burros: 
Rompope is the Mexican name for what those north of the border know and consume as egg nog.
 
Google Books
Mexico
by Kal Muller, Guillermo Garcia Oropeza, and Sanford Zalburg
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1983
Pg. 146:
From Puebla, too, comes rompope, a sort of eggnog, and the favorite drink of nice old Mexican ladies.
 
28 March 1985, Los Angeles (CA) Times, section 8, pg. 37:
At Mexican Joe’s the cajeta is thinned with rompope, the Mexican eggnog liquor.
 
Google Books
The Border Cookbook:
Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest
by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Common Press
1995
Pg. 459:
ROMPOPE
The Mexican version of eggnog, rompope is made from a rich cooked custard base rather than from the cold cream-and-eggs mixture that is standard in the United States.
Serves 10 to 12
4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
2 sticks canela or other cinnamon
Pinch of salt
8 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup brandy, or to taste
Ground canela or other cinnamon, for garnish (...)

Google Books
Moon Puerto Vallarta
by Bruce Whipperman
Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel
2007
Pg. 125:
If you see a bottle filled with a yellow-orange liquid, it’s probably rumpope (rohm-POH-pay), eggnog laced with tequila.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark ROMPOPE
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 033. US 049. G & S: LIQUEURS. FIRST USE: 19740000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19740000
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73668816
Filing Date June 26, 1987
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition April 5, 1988
Registration Number 1494447
Registration Date June 28, 1988
Owner (REGISTRANT) ROMPOPE SANTA CLARA, S.A. DE C.V. CORPORATION MEXICO ANDRES MOLINA ENRIQUEZ NO. 780 SAN ANDRES TETEPILCO MEXICO 09440
Attorney of Record HENRY W. LEEDS
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date January 2, 1995
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark ROMPOPE DE LA CASA
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 032. US 045. G & S: alcoholic beverages made with milk, sugar, corn starch, egg yolks, natural and artificial flavors and colorants
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 74555214
Filing Date July 29, 1994
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Productos de Leche Coronado, S.A. de C.V. CORPORATION MEXICO Amado Nervo No. 535 Colonia Tequisquiapan 78250, San Luis Potosi MEXICO
Attorney of Record Lawrence S. Wick
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date June 23, 1995
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark TOM CHERRY ROMPOPE
Goods and Services IC 033. US 047 049. G & S: Liqueur; liquor; flavored alcoholic beverage, namely, rompope. FIRST USE: 19830601. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060823
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 03.07.01 - Cattle; Oxen, cows, calves, bulls; Steers
03.07.24 - Stylized bovines, deer, antelopes, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, bulls, buffalo, moose
06.09.03 - Farms
07.11.09 - Brick walls; Fences (including barbed wire and chain link); Garden equipment, fencing; Gates; Walls
26.11.16 - Rectangles touching or intersecting
26.11.21 - Rectangles that are completely or partially shaded
26.11.25 - Rectangles with one or more curved sides
Serial Number 78834409
Filing Date March 10, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition October 17, 2006
Registration Number 3270311
Registration Date July 24, 2007
Owner (REGISTRANT) Distribuidora Dolgo, S.A. de C.V. CORPORATION MEXICO Indiana # 52, Colonia Nápoles Mexico, D.F. MEXICO 03810
Attorney of Record Laurel V. Dineff
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “rompope” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Description of Mark The color(s) Red, white, gold, green, blue, brown and black is/are claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of a rectangle in the background in red with gold border; in the upper part of the foreground there is a red banner with gold border and the word ROMPOPE in it in white; immediately bellow the banner there is a pictorial representation of a field with green grass, blue and white sky, brown and green trees, a brown fence, and two black and white cows; in the center of the foreground the words TOM CHERRY appear in white with a gold shade.
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Other Data The name Tom Cherry does not represent a living individual.
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE