Almojábana

Almojábana
Type	Bread
Region or state	Latin America
Associated national cuisine	Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico
Main ingredients	Corn flour, butter or margarine, eggs, cheese, sugar, leavening agent
	Cookbook: Almojábana; Media: Almojábana;

Almojábana is a type of bread made with cuajada cheese and corn flour.^[1]^[2]

About[]

An almojábana is a small, bun-shaped bread having a tart flavor. It has some variations between Hispanic America and Spain.

The etymology stems from Hispano-Arab and that in turn from classical Arabic المُجَبَّنة"almuǧábbana" (made of cheese) the measure II passive participle of the root ج-ب-ن, the same root as جُبْن "jubn" (Cheese).^[3]

Ingredients[]

Colombia[]

Almojábanas are made with masarepa or pre-cooked white cornmeal, cottage cheese, butter, baking powder, salt, eggs and milk.

Puerto Rico[]

In Puerto Rico almojábanas are small round-balls eaten in the northwest part of the island. They are made with rice flour, plantain flour, breadfruit flour, or tapioca, mixed with flour, milk, butter, baking powder, salt, eggs, herbs, and stuffed with cheese or meat. A sweet version is served on Christmas but eliminates herbs and cheese and instead adds sugar, sesame seeds, and served with a spiced syrup made from honey. They are rolled in cornmeal and fried.

Celebration[]

The Almojában Festival is celebrated in Lares, Puerto Rico in October.^[4]

Gallery[]

A traditional breakfast in Bogotá and the surrounding region consisting of hot chocolate, cheese, and two kinds of bread: almojábana (on left) and pan de yuca on right.

References[]

^ Porup, Jens (2009). Colombia (5th ed.). Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741048278.
^ "Colombian Cheese Bread Almojabanas". Retrieved 20 April 2015.
^ https://dle.rae.es/almojábana
^ "Lares Municipality". enciclopediapr.org. Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (FPH). Archived from the original on 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2019-03-20.