My husband spent 10 years in Puerto Rico when he was a boy and came away with a great Spanish accent and an even greater love of flan — the baked custard beloved of the Latin world.

The other night, taking a break from the 150th anniversary cookbook that is monopolizing my daylight hours, my husband and I joined some friends for a pupu-and-dessert party. I was lugging along dishes I'm testing for the book (Trader Vic's rumaki, if you remember what that was, and an old-fashioned banana pie).

Much to my husband's delight, my friend Fernando De Hoyos made his mother's flan. Fernando is from Puerto Rico and loves to cook the specialties of his home. He even knows what day the green plantains come in at El Mercado de la Raza (Friday). On Fridays, he said, you can buy the green ones and also pick up the ones that have ripened from the previous week — that way you can make tostones (mashed fried green plantains) and maduros, (fried ripe plantains) all in one day. A volunteer cook for the client meals offered by the Life Foundation (an O'ahu AIDS organization), he has become known for his cooking prowess and his unusual coconut-cream-cheese flan shows why.

This ultra-rich dessert with a sophisticated tanginess is definitely special enough for company night.

FERNANDO'S PUERTO RICAN FLAN