Whence
Tequeños (cheese sticks)
Food

Where does Tequeños (cheese sticks) come from?

Tequeños come from Los Teques, a town about 30 kilometres from Caracas in Venezuela. These fried sticks of wheat dough wrapped around white cheese are a fixture of Venezuelan parties, and their name simply means 'from Los Teques'.

The Báez sisters' rolled cheeses

Nobody knows for certain who fried the first one. The best-known story credits the Báez sisters of Los Teques, who are said to have begun making and selling them in 1912; in 2023 Venezuela's culture minister repeated that date. They wrapped strips of wheat dough around sticks of white cheese and fried them, and at first the snack was called quesitos enrollados, 'little rolled cheeses'. Some tellings place the start in the 1920s instead.

Named after the townspeople

The Báez family sold their snack in Caracas too. When the orders arrived, buyers would call out '¡Llegaron los tequeños!', meaning the people from Los Teques had come, because tequeños is what the town's people are called. In time the name passed to the food. Another version credits the cook of a well-off Caracas family on holiday in Los Teques, and a third points to El Teque, a vanished Caracas neighbourhood.

From the party tray to the world

Tequeños are eaten for breakfast, as a starter or as a snack at parties and weddings. Cooks fill them with other cheeses, guava paste, chocolate or ham as well, and in Zulia state tequeyoyos add ripe plantain to the cheese. As many Venezuelans moved abroad in recent years, tequeños became popular in Spain, Argentina and other countries. In 2023 Venezuela declared the tequeño part of its national cultural heritage, and 21 October is International Tequeño Day.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org ↗ · es.wikipedia.org ↗ · ntn24.com ↗ · cnnchile.com ↗ · eldiario.com ↗

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