Cuajada -- Spanish (Basque) yogurt or panacotta-ish dessert?

Does any restaurant in Chicago serve this? We had a great homemade one at Asador Epeleta in Spain but we also loved the mass produced looking version that came in these brown ceramic type of containers. It's white and creamy, not sour at all like yogurt, and not as smooth as panacotta. It generally came with honey or a packet of sugar to mix in. I've been having regular cravings for this which says something since all the food in Spain was incredible. Anyone see something like this on Chicago menus?

Reading your post, I was slightly reminded of the Mexican custard, cajeta, which is made of caramelized milk. Traditionally, the stuff was sold in little boxes (thus the name -- and somewhat reminiscent of the "ceramic container"). What you describe sounds something like this confection...but not quite. I wonder if this Mexican dessert is a variant of a dish that was Spanish in origin, with which it bears some similarity (and differences).

Sounds very much like cuajada, a very common cows-milk Basque cheese that is traditionally served with honey. Cuajada means coagulated or curdled.

Bill/SFNM

Yes, that's it -- cuajada -- we were in the basque region and this was everywhere. Does anyone know where I can find it in Chicago?

I loved buying those caramel wafers (that were coated in something like the white Catholic body of christ wafer things) whenever I was in Tijuana. I thought these were called Cajeta... anyway, they're delicious. I think I've seen them here in the pinata shops that sell candy. We had a large bag that we dug out of the pantry when we ran out of candy on Halloween. The kids (children of the old-time residents pre-Bucktown) were really happy to see us handing them out.

I'm getting distracted, though, Caujada? Anyone? Curdled milk?

Cajeta is caramelized goat and cows milk and is used in all kinds of Mexican candies. The ones wrapped in paper-thin wafers are called obleas . Sevillanas and glorias are other popular cajeta candies.

My favorite is a confection in a which a sheet of guava paste (ate de guayaba) is covered with a layer of cajeta and rolled up like jelly roll. The combination of creamy cajeta and chewy ate is as addictive as crack cocaine.

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:Cajeta is caramelized goat and cows milk and is used in all kinds of Mexican candies. The ones wrapped in paper-thin wafers are called obleas . Sevillanas and glorias are other popular cajeta candies.

My favorite is a confection in a which a sheet of guava paste (ate de guayaba) is covered with a layer of cajeta and rolled up like jelly roll. The combination of creamy cajeta and chewy ate is as addictive as crack cocaine.

Celaya in Guanajuato is famous for its cajeta and Amata and I scored some from there as a nonce purchase of home-made stuff that didn't look like it had passed through all the FDA red-tape and inspections. Great stuff.

Antonius

Could you be thinking of Crema Catalana?

They have cajeta flan from time to time at Frontera. There is a good recipe for same in The New Texas Cuisine cookbook by Stephen Pyles. Good luck.

I had a great Cajeta tres leches cake from bombon in pilsen just this week, am ready to find something to celebrate again soon, just to have a reson to order the cake again.

Lucky Layla Farms in Texas makes cuajada, and I believe you can mail order it. I called to find out if they supply any Chicago-area stores, and the guy said they sold to Eatzi's. I called Eatzi's, but the woman I spoke to said she'd never heard of it. If you live near the Eatzi's here, it might be worth your time to drop in and ask if they can start stocking it (or see if the woman I spoke to was mistaken).

Wow, thanks for the link in Texas and all that follow-up footwork. I think the link mentioned might be for cheese made from sheep's milk which isn't exactly the same thing as the dessert I'm looking for (which is also made from sheep's milk) but I'm going to look further into it. thanks again.

I'm definitely not talking about flan. From my experience, Creme Catalan is more like a flan than the curdled quality of the cuajada that I had which was also pure white in color and almost shake like in texture after mixing in the sugar (or honey). I recall the first time we had cuajada, the waiter translated it into "junket" and we thought, "huh -- what the hell is junket?"

I also saw the cuajada (served unsweetened and not egg-like at all) at some of the breakfast buffets at the AC hotel chains in Spain -- again in these brown ceramic containers with a foil top.

Is there a store in Chicagoland that specializes in food items from Northern Spain? Or, is there a restaurant that considers itself as specializing in basque regional food? I'd be willing to go just to beg the cook to put this on the menu.

I wonder if 'junket' is a word for 'rennet'--the stuff used to coagulate cheese? Just a wild guess. I thought the Lucky Layla cuajada was a yogurt-like dessert cheese? I couldn't find a direct link describing the Layla cheese again, but it might be worth a call/order to see if it's the same stuff.

I think 1492 and Haro both serve some Basque-style small plates (as do many other tapas restaurants here), but I haven't seen cuajada on the menu.

1492
42 E. Superior Street
(312) 867-1492

Haro
2436 S Oakley Ave
(773) 847-2400