Culinary Explorer
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Dulce de Chilacayota con Pan de Yema
Created by Chef Lupita
Oaxaca's Valles Centrales wedding sweet, mature chilacayota reduced slowly in piloncillo, canela, and clove until it falls into glossy threads, then spooned over egg-rich pan de yema.
Oaxaca, Valles Centrales: this is where dulce de chilacayota con pan de yema belongs. You see it around Tlacolula, Zaachila, Etla, Ocotlan, and the markets of Oaxaca de Juarez, where wedding tables and Todos Santos despensas still understand preserved fruit as serious cooking. The chilacayota is not pumpkin. It is Cucurbita ficifolia, a hard-shelled squash with pale flesh that pulls into threads when it is treated properly.
Ingredients
mature chilacayota or figleaf gourd
Quantity
1 medium (4 to 5 pounds)
scrubbed
water
Quantity
8 cups
divided
piloncillo
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
broken into small pieces
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature chilacayota or figleaf gourdscrubbed | 1 medium (4 to 5 pounds) |
| waterdivided | 8 cups |
| piloncillobroken into small pieces | 1 1/2 pounds |
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