Nicaraguan Quesillo is native to Nagarote and La Paz Centro in the department of Leon, but is now enjoyed throughout the country.
Why is it called Quesillo?
The literary word means «small cheese» and the basic ingredients are always Nicaraguan cheese, tortilla, onion and vinegar. In the fast and playful Spanish spoken in Nicaragua, the phrase «claro que si» (of course) is often changed to «claro quesillos».
They are a popular snack to eat on the go, and you can usually find quesillo in places where there is a lot of traffic, such as bus stops and gas stations.
The road from Managua, the capital, to León, the second largest city, is dotted with quesillo stands.
Ingredients:
- A corn tortilla
- Nicaraguan quesillo cheese. The cheese is white, soft and somewhat chewy.
- Finely chopped onions in vinegar
- salt
- Sour cream
How to prepare pickled onions from the quesillo?
- We take the raw onion and boil it in water.
- Once it’s cooked a little, we dip the chopped onion in it.
- Once this has happened we must give it some time and taste it, guaranteeing that it is neither overcooked nor raw. Leave it at least 4 minutes.
- After this time, we take them out and put them in black vinegar.
Preparation of quesillo nica:
- Roll the tortilla around the cheese.
- Add the onions in vinegar.
- Finish with salt and a dash of sour cream.
- Serve!
The quesillo is usually served in a small plastic bag to keep the vinegar, even many nicas, tie the bag and eat it as if it were an «ice cream», because in this way, all the juices and flavor together are preserved, making an unparalleled explosion.
Ah! And let’s not forget to consume it with its respective freshly made tiste.
Advice!
In Nagarote, onions are pickled in banana vinegar. This gives the dish a unique flavor that is difficult to replicate in your home. Unless you only have banana vinegar on your shelves.
Some fun facts about Quesillo
- The term quesillos can cause some confusion when people from various parts of Latin America meet because it denotes very different dishes depending on their country of origin.
- In Colombia it is a double cream cheese wrapped in a banana leaf, while the Mexican quesillo is a type of string cheese sold in balls of different sizes.
- If you order quesillo in Venezuela, you will get a desert made with eggs, condensed milk and caramel, completely without cheese.
Good! Now that you know how to make quesillo in Nicaragua, it’s your turn to enjoy this easy but delicious dish from our country.