La Cuajada de Oveja

[Specialité au lait de Brebis Caillé]

What's this? Looks like a sort of yoghurt in a pretty pot, but it's not. It's la cuajada, a traditional milk-based dessert. The real ones are those made from ewe's milk and left to curdle with rennet from the ewe itself. I have come across it in the dessert section of traditional spanish restaurants' menu. Most popular in the North-eastern region of Spain where it originated, like Navarre and País Basco (Basque Country), cuajada is sometimes served with honey and fruit for breakfast, in place of yoghurt.

The creamy but light milk curd is sold commercially today with cow's milk. What a shame! The ones that come in packages, which you can make at home has starch and plant-extracted rennet instead. Hmmm....

Thankfully I found this pretty original version in an earthen pot in a typical small carniceria that also sells some cheese and other traditional food products. Also spotted this particular brand on the shelves of a fromagerie at Rue Mouffetard too. It seems like the food marketing strategy of this spanish product is pretty successful across the border. Oh, by the way, "Cuajada" means "curdled" in Spanish. Original huh?