Quesada Pasiega - a traditional dessert from Cantabria Spain

Today I show you the traditional recipe of 'quesada pasiega'. Being from Cantabria, I’ve tried every brand of quesada and also the traditional homemade ones made by a friend of my mother, who prepared them exquisitely. That’s why my standards for quesada are very high, and taking advantage of the blog, I wanted to try making one myself to see if I could achieve that delicious traditional flavor. And I did it!

Rest assured that if you follow the steps in my recipe, you’ll get all the traditional flavor of Cantabria.

The origin of quesada pasiega dates back to the 14th century, and its recipe has been passed down from parents to children until today. It was born in the area of Selaya, Vega del Pas, and Villacarriedo, created by shepherds who had leftover curdled milk and eggs and came up with this delightful dessert that soon became a hallmark of the entire province.

Ingredients:

- 3 liters of fresh whole milk (to obtain 500 g of curdled milk or cheese).
- 200 g of sugar.
-100 g of butter.
-4 large eggs.
-A pinch of salt.
-100 g of regular flour or cake flour.
-3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
-Lemon zest.

-Rennet (the amount indicated by the manufacturer))

Preparation:

1- First, we prepare the curdled milk or queso pasiego. You need fresh milk; this recipe cannot be made with long-life milk from cartons—you must use the refrigerated milk sold in supermarket. The cheese obtained usually weighs about 1/4 of the amount of milk used. Pour all the milk into a pot and heat it to 34°C. I measured the temperature with a meat thermometer.

2- At this temperature, I added the drops of rennet indicated by the brand I bought. You can purchase rennet at pharmacies; I recommend buying the smallest amount possible because you won’t need much and it spoils quickly. For 3 liters of milk, I needed 60 drops. Stir well so the rennet spreads evenly throughout the milk.

3- I waited quite a while and nothing happened, so I gradually increased the temperature of the milk until, at 75°C, I saw it begun to curdle slightly. I continued raising it slowly up to 90°C, and at that point, it was clear that the milk had separated from the whey.

4- I turned off the heat, let the milk rest covered for two hours, then placed a strainer over a bowl with a cheesecloth on top and poured all the curdled milk onto it.

5- Lift the cloth and press the cheese slightly to release a bit more whey.

6- In a bowl, mix the butter with the sugar until you get a smooth paste.

7- Add the eggs, at room temperature, along with a pinch of salt, the cinnamon, and the lemon zest. Mix everything well.

8- Add the sifted flour using a strainer and mix thoroughly.

9-  Incorporate the cheese and mix well. Some people blend it completely, but traditionally, small lumps of cheese are left. I kept a few lumps.

10- Grease a baking mold with butter and pour in the mixture. The baking mold has a diameter of 12 centimeters.

11- Preheat the oven to 200°C.

12- Place the quesada in the middle of the oven with heat above and below at 200°C for 8 minutes.

Then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 35 minutes. After that, switch to heat above at the same temperature and bake for 10 more minutes—this helps the top brown nicely.

You can enjoy it warm or cold, whichever you prefer. It keeps well in the fridge, and the next day it tastes even better.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Cantabria

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Yakbap- Yaksik or medicinal rice from Korea

Yakbap is a traditional Korean dessert, enjoyed in both North and South Korea.

“Yak” means medicine and “bap” means rice, so the name literally translates to “medicinal rice” because it is made with very healthy ingredients.

It is also called Yaksik or "medicinal meal".

It is sweetened with honey or brown sugar and includes a mix of highly nutritious nuts along with glutinous rice. Among the nuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, walnuts, the jujube (also known as Chinese dates) are essential, as they have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

When eaten cold, glutinous rice contains a high amount of resistant starch, which helps nourish our gut microbiota.

It is traditionally eaten during the lunar festival Jeongwol Daeboreum (정월대보름), which coincides with the first full moon of the lunar year.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of glutinous rice

• 200 grams of jujube (Chinese red dates)

• 40 grams of walnuts

• 40 grams of raisins

• 40 grams of pine nuts

• 100 grams of chestnuts

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

• 285 ml of jujube seed tea

• 180 grams of brown sugar

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method:

1- Wash the glutinous rice and soak it in water for 5 to 6 hours.

2- Make a cut in the shell of the chestnuts and boil them in salted water for 40 minutes.

3- Soak the jujubes (Chinese red dates) for 10 minutes.
Jujube is a Chinese date that you can buy in Asian grocery stores.

4- Once hydrated, remove the pits from the jujubes and cut them into pieces. Do not discard the pits—we’ll use them to make jujube tea. Place the pits in 500 ml of water, bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Once the water has a golden-brown color, strain it, and your tea is ready.

5- Peel the chestnuts and cut them into small pieces. Set them aside separately from the rest of the nuts, as they will be added to the mixture later. Also chop the walnuts into small pieces.

6- Add 450 ml of water and 130 grams of brown sugar In a pressure cooker , heat it slightly until the sugar dissolves.

7- Add the rice, jujubes, raisins, pine nuts, and walnuts (all the nuts except the chestnuts) to the pressure cooker. Add a pinch of salt, the soy sauce, sesame oil, and cinnamon, and mix everything well.

Add jujube tea just until everything is covered. Cook on high heat until steam starts to come out of the valve; at that point, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool until all the pressure is released, then you can open it.

8- Spread some sesame oil on a tray and place the cooked rice on it. This is the moment to add the chestnuts, then mix everything well.

Spread the rice evenly and press down the surface so it becomes slightly compact. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour—though the longer it rests, the better.

9- Run a knife through the rice making vertical and horizontal lines to form small squares. These glutinous rice squares can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for a healthy snack whenever you like.

Take them out and microwave for a couple of minutes to defrost, and they’re ready to eat.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

North Korea

Starogrojski Paprenjok - biscuits from Croatia

 These biscuits are typical from Croatia, specifically from the island of Hvar ,their origin is in the city of Stari Grad. In the past they were also widely consumed throughout the Dalmatian coast.

They are eaten at all family parties and are highly appreciated for being very durable. In fact in the past, it was a gift that the guests used to give to the bride and groom on their wedding day, the bride and groom had to keep them and consume them when they had their first child.

The sailors' wives and mothers used to make these cookies for sailors to take with them on long voyages, they knew that they were going to have a good sweet for the whole trip.

They are made with sweet wine, honey and a set of spices called 'prapen' with nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Ingredients:

For the dough

- 500 grams flour.

- 250 grams honey.

- 62 ml olive oil.

- 75 ml sweet wine.

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

- 1 teaspoon baking soda.

- 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

- 1 teaspoon cloves.

- 0,5 grams saffron strands.

For the decoration

- 250 grams cast sugar.

- 1 lemon juice.

- 1 egg white.

Method:

1- Put the wine in a saucepan together with the cloves , turn on the fire until it boils.

2- Turn off the heat and add the saffron threads, let the wine get cool.

3- In a bowl, mix the honey with nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda.

4- When the wine is cold, strain it and add it to the honey bowl, mix everything well.

5- Add the flour and oil, mix and knead until everything is well integrated, make a ball with the dough and cover it with cling film.

Let it rest for 5 or 6 hours.

6- Take portions of the dough and with the help of a rolling pin flatten the dough on a flat surface.

Use cookie molds to cut the dough, also use some stamps to make some drawing on the surface of the cookie.

7- Line a tray with baking paper and place the cookies on it, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes, and then bake at the same temperature for 20 minutes, heat up and down.

8- You can decorate the cookies on the same or another day, the advantage is that these cookies can last for many months, so you won't lose them.

To decorate the cookies we are going to prepare the icing.

Put an egg white in a bowl and beat until it is white and you can make peaks with it and the peaks do not fall off.

Add the icing sugar little by little while stirring.

9- Add lemon juice and continue stirring.

10- Once the mixture is added, cover it with cling film, you can keep it in the fridge until you decide to decorate the cookies.

Croatian women traditionally use a pin to decorate, they dip it in the icing and then make some drawings on the biscuits.

You already have some cookies that you can use at Christmas even if you make them in summer!

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Croatia

Drap:
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