The Andes · Volume 21, Colombia, the Andean Interior
Buñuelos and Natilla
Colombia, nationwide
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 1 hour
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Buñuelos and natilla, Christmas Eve's inseparable pair
About 1 hour, plus setting time for the natilla.
Ingredients
Buñuelos
- 200g grated fresh cheese
- 90g cornstarch
- 30g cassava starch
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Natilla
- 1 cup cornstarch, dissolved in a portion of cold milk
- 750ml milk, approx, the remainder after the slurry
- to taste panela, grated
- 2 cloves
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- a pinch bicarbonate of soda, a pinch
- a pinch salt, a pinch
Method
Buñuelos
- Mix the grated fresh cheese, cornstarch and cassava starch with sugar, baking powder and salt to a smooth, even dough.
- Rest the dough 15 minutes.
- Roll into walnut-sized balls and deep-fry until golden outside and cooked through, roughly 5 to 7 minutes.
Natilla
- Dissolve the cornstarch in a portion of cold milk.
- Heat the remaining milk, roughly 750ml, with the grated panela, cloves, cinnamon and a pinch of bicarbonate and salt until the panela fully dissolves without the milk boiling.
- Stir in the cornstarch slurry gradually, whisking continuously until the whole pan sets to a soft, sliceable custard as it cools.
Notes
Natilla here is distinguished from Spanish natilla by carrying no egg at all.
What a modern chef changes
Probe-Fried, Sous Vide Infused
Method
Buñuelos
- Hold the buñuelo dough exactly as tradition mixes it, since the balance of cheese and two starches is already a precise, working formula.
- Control the frying temperature with a probe rather than by eye, for a more consistent batch-to-batch result across a full plate of buñuelos.
Natilla
- Infuse the cinnamon and cloves in the milk under gentle sous vide heat before building the custard conventionally on the stove.
- Pass the finished custard through a chinois before it sets, for a genuinely silken natilla with none of the occasional graininess a hand-whisked version can carry.