PEANUT PUNCH FRACO

Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands

Before it was featured in Food & Wine, Peanut Punch was already a signature taste of St. Croix — equal parts nostalgia, culture, and creativity. At Chef Digby Stridiron’s restaurant Braata, it captured the essence of what he set out to do: honor traditional West Indian foodways while presenting them through a refined, modern Caribbean lens.

Across the islands, peanut punch is a drink of comfort and strength — rich, creamy, and laced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and sometimes a little rum. Digby’s version transformed this everyday favorite into something new: a frosty fraco(shaved-ice treat) infused with coconut milk and aged rum, served as both refreshment and remembrance.

In Braata’s turquoise courtyard where soca music drifted in the breeze, this cocktail represented more than indulgence. It was a celebration of Caribbean heritage — a toast to the generations whose ingenuity and flavor shaped the region’s cuisine, and to a chef determined to keep their stories alive through every dish and every glass.

IngrEdiEnts

• 1/2 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise

• 2 cups well-shaken and stirred unsweetened canned coconut milk

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) Jamaican dark rum (such as Cruzan Aged Dark Rum)

• 1 teaspoon grated cinnamon (from 1 cinnamon stick)

• 9 cups shaved or crushed ice

• Grated fresh nutmeg

DirEctions

1. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into a blender; add coconut milk, peanut butter, condensed milk, rum, and cinnamon. Process until smooth, about 45 seconds. (Mixture will be the consistency of a milkshake.) Cover and chill until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

   
   

2. Fill 6 lowball glasses with shaved ice (about 1 1/2 cups each), heaping into a mound. Slowly pour peanut mixture over ice (about 1/2 cup each). Garnish with nutmeg, and serve with spoons.