Instructions: In myriad versions from kitchens far and wide, the globe-trotting dessert is exotic yet familiar. by Deborah Grossman, Special to the Mercury News

Freeze it and youve got ice cream.

Whip in egg whites and youve got mousse.

Torch it and voila - creme brulee.

But say custard and it sounds like something your grandmother made when you wanted chocolate cake.

With its rich culinary history, custard is a dish that long ago found a home in global cuisines. Almost every country has some version. And today, in addition to preparing everything from Peruvian flan to traditional creme brulee, Bay Area chefs are reinterpreting custard again, producing versions made with green tea, lavender or arborio rice. [A rounded, medium-grain rice from Italy that is both firm and creamy when cooked.]

Custard is one of gastronomys building blocks.

Julia Child, in the creamy-desserts episode of Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, says, Custard is one of the recipes you must have in your repertoire. When dining out, cookbook author James McNair says, A simple and sure way to assess the caliber of a restaurant is to order the creme brulee.

The traditional western definition of custard is a simple mixture of eggs, milk or cream, and sugar. But that satiny-smooth base has long begged for additional flavor and texture. As ingredients evolved from the basic trinity, almost any dish with a custard-like consistency has come to be called custard.

Custard has been in vogue since ancient Roman times. In the Middle Ages, custards were used as fillings for meat pies. As trade increased in the 17 th century, the English became enamored of cane sugar from the New World and mixed it into custards. Their boiled custard - which is actually simmered to the boiling point - was originally served in large pans, sometimes with caramelized sugar on the bottom.

Who added the caramel?

Whats not clear is who first spread sugar on top of baked custard, then melted and caramelized it. Was it the English, with their burnt cream dish? Or the French, with their creme brulee?

French chef Gerald Hirigoyen of San Franciscos Fringale and Pastis restaurants, who hails from France, believes neither the French nor the English should take credit. He and some other culinary scholars believe Catalan cooks originated burnt cream when they created crema catalana, a stove-top custard thickened with flour or cornstarch and topped with crunchy, caramelized sugar.

But not every custard features cows milk. Or eggs.

Cuisine is a matter of geography. You cook what the land makes available to you, says Marie Simmons, author of The Good Egg (Houghton Mifflin, 2000). When a country doesnt have grazing land for cows, the cuisine may feature sheeps or goats milk, or milk substitutes from other staples like soybeans.

In Peru, canned milk is popular because many areas lack refrigeration and milk is expensive, says Olga Enciso-Smith, a native of Peru and owner of San Joses Inca Gardens restaurant. Thats what Enciso-Smith uses.

Milk isnt always prevalent in Thailand either, said Kasma Loha-unchit, a Thai cooking teacher and author. (See tapioca story, Page 1F.) The national substitute is coconut milk. Loha-unchit said the geography of Petchburi, a coastal town in southern Thailand, is ideal for custard. The abundant coconut groves yield excellent coconut milk. . . . The local sugar palm trees produce a unique caramel-tasting sugar, and duck eggs are plentiful.

In Turkey, Esin deCarion, co-owner of Cafe Esin in San Ramon, recalls custards from her childhood that were cooked with rice milk, thickened with rice flour, salep (ground root of orchids) or mahleb (ground black cherry pits), and flavored with rose or orange blossom water.

In other cuisines, custard is often savory, not sweet.

In Japan, chawan mushi (egg custard) is composed of eggs and dashi (stock)

over cooked chicken, seafood and vegetables.

Chinese steamed egg dishes are made of water and oil mixed with meat and a covering of egg and soy sauce. Chinese cuisine also has a sweet version in dim sum: an egg custard tart, thickened with a large proportion of eggs to milk.

Custard as canvas

Chefs, however, are going beyond traditional interpretations of custard dishes from their native lands and inventing new renditions. In these interpretations, custard is a canvas for creating new textures and new flavors.

Rob Lam, chef at butterfly in San Francisco, was born in Vietnam and still enjoys the comforting version of his mothers sweet custard with soybean milk.

But at butterfly, he has created a mound of flavors with a foie gras dish built around a simple almond custard thats textured with fresh litchi nuts. He studs seared foie gras with toasted almonds, places it on the almond custard and garnishes the bowl with a reduction of aged balsamic vinegar.

At Cafe Esin, DeCarion occasionally serves creme brulee flavored Turkish-style with rose water. More frequently, she blends in lavender to impart an unmistakably sweet aroma and flavor.

Newer restaurants are also featuring variations on the custard theme.

At the Village Pub in Woodside, pastry chef Alison Russell makes an unusual risotto creme brulee. and at Miramonte restaurant in St. Helena, where chef Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards Grill fame showcases food of the Americas, it may not be surprising to find Argentine flan. But Pawlcyn jazzes it up with Meyer lemon.

Even custard fanatics such as author McNair, who is continuing his search for the perfect creme brulee, are experimenting.

Recently I began using goats milk in my creme caramel, he says. It adds a touch of tang to make custard even more heavenly - if thats possible.

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