Capirotada, yet another Mexican delicacy

Capirotada is an traditional Mexican dish prepared of stale bread, piloncillo, cinnamon, peanuts, cheese, and cloves. The original recipe is Roman, but the only thing it has in common with today’s capirotada is the bread.

The Spaniards introduced the dish to Mexico. It was then that it became a meatless dish. Capirotada first featured in cookbooks throughout the colonial era. It was a dish with layers of bread, cheese, piloncillo dressing, and tomato as the major ingredients.

Capirotada is a traditional Lenten dish in Mexico, especially on Fridays during the Catholic vigil period. It’s like a fruity bread pudding. If you enjoy eating sweet, salty, soft, and crunchy ingredients all in one bite, this delicacy is for you!

The main features of the capirotada are three: the bread, the dressing and the layering technique.

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Although the base of this dish is bread, each region of the country has its own style of preparing it. It’s commonly bolillo or birote, cut into slices and dried overnight. You soak the bread in a syrup of piloncillo honey or a milk-cream mixture. You use the latter for capirotada blanca. Then, you cover it with aged cheese and cook it with fruits such as banana, raisins, guava, and peanuts.

The recipe varies greatly depending on where you live. Other varieties of cheese and fruits, such as biznaga and grated coconut, are popular in some places. There are, however, varieties that do not contain any fruits. Several variants containing prunes, walnuts, and almonds, as well as tortillas and, in some cases, onion and tomato. There are just too many variations to list, as each family has its own recipe.

Capirotada, which is produced with aged products, reduces waste while also serving as a tasty appetizer in Mexican cuisine.