Tequeño is a fried breaded cheese stick or a spear of
bread dough
Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...
with ''
queso blanco
Queso blanco (), literally ''white cheese'' in Spanish, can refer to many different kinds of cheeses whose only common trait is their white color. The specific cheese referred to depends on the region.
Production
Queso blanco is considered on ...
'' (fresh cheese) stuffed in the middle, and is a popular meal or snack in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. To prepare it, the dough is wrapped around a cheesestick and formed into a
breadstick
Breadsticks, also known as grissini, grissino or dipping sticks, (''ghërsin'' in ) are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry baked bread that originated in Piedmont, a region of Italy. There is also a soft-baked breadstick version popula ...
so it can be
fried in oil or sometimes
oven-baked. Tequeños can be eaten for breakfast, as a side appetizer, or as a
snack food at parties and weddings.
The snack is named after
Los Teques
Los Teques
) is the capital of the state of Miranda and the municipality of Guaicaipuro Municipality. It is located in the capital region of north-central Venezuela. More specifically, southwest of Caracas, 10° 21' 00" N latitude and 67° 02' 3 ...
after being invented in the kitchen of one of the wealthy families living there.
Variations
Many different recipes for tequeños can be found online. Tequeños can be made with different varieties of cheese, and even with sweet fillings like chocolate or guava although salty white cheeses are the most popular. Tequeños have become very popular in other regions within Latin America because of how easy they are to make, thanks to the Venezuelan diaspora. They have also become increasingly popular in Spain.
There are similar dishes, such as Peruvian Tequeños, which use a
Wantán dough and can have other fillings than cheese, but inspired by venezuelan tequeños. They are often eaten with
Guacamole
Guacamole (; (informally shortened to ''guac'' in the United States since the 1980s) is an avocado-based dip, spread, or salad first developed in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine, it has become part of international cuisi ...
.
[Tequeños with Cheese](_blank)
retrieved am 14.9.2017
See also
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Lumpiang keso
''Lumpiang keso'' is a Filipino deep-fried appetizer consisting of a stick of cheese wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. It is more commonly known as cheese sticks, cheese lumpia, or cheese turon. It is usually served warm and crispy, with a dipping ...
*
Mozzarella sticks
Mozzarella sticks are elongated pieces of battered or breaded mozzarella, usually served as hors d'oeuvre.
Origins
The history of frying cheese in a batter dates back to at least 1393 in Medieval France, when a recipe for fried cheese stic ...
*
Sigara böreği
''Sigara'' is a genus of water boatmen in the family Corixidae. Some species within this genus are halophiles; for example, occurrences of the genus have been noted in the hypersaline Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana.C. Michael Hogan (2008''Makgad ...
*
List of breads
This is a list of notable baked or steamed bread varieties. This list does not include cakes, pastries, or fried dough foods, which are listed in separate Wikipedia articles. It also does not list foods in which bread is an ''ingredient'' which i ...
References
Breads
Venezuelan cuisine
Snack foods
{{Venezuela-cuisine-stub