QUESO, QUINCE & QUESILLO - A recipe for the A-Z Challenge.

QUESO = Cheese. Most of the local cheese in Tenerife is made from goat milk – cows don’t live happily in our climate and any there are have to be kept indoors or they get sunburned. The supermarkets stock Gouda and Cheddar but we also like the local cheeses – even the fresh white cheese loses its rubbery texture when fried and served with jam 

QUINCE JAM - Membrillo is something I had never encountered before coming to Teneirfe, but every supermarket stocks these slabs of sticky brown quince jam. The traditional way to eat it is in slices on top of cheese.

QUESILLO – continuing the food theme tor today, quesillo is my favourite pudding when eating out. It is similar to flan, which is a caramel egg custard, but the texture is less smooth. You can also get quesillo almendra which is made with ground almonds. Every quesillo is slightly different because they are almost always homemade.

I made some today just so that I could take a photograph – the sacrifices I make in the interests of research!

This is my recipe, though I only used half quantities to make about a pint of pudding.

QUESILLO CANARIO

4 large eggs, 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon water 350g can condensed milk, then use the condensed milk tin to measure two of fresh milk, juice of ½ lemon, 2 teaspoons powdered cinnamon.

* Dissolve sugar in water over low heat then boilrapidly without stirring until golden brown. Use this caramel to line a well-buttered bowl.

* Separate eggs. Beat the whites till frothy then mix in yolks.

* Add condensed milk and fresh milk, beat well.

* Finally add lemon juice and cinnamon.

* Pour into caramelised bowl and cook in a bain marie at̊ 180̊ for 60 – 90 minutes.

* Cool in bowl and turn out just before serving. The caramel will run down the side so make sure the serving dish is deep enough.

* You can serve it with cream and/or dark berries, but I prefer it neat. It slides down easily even after a huge barbecue.

QUEST, QUESO, QUIERO

I was QUITE certain that I’d fall at this fence, but various QUAINT & QUEER bits of inspiration have struck during the day, so here goes on a sampler.

QUEST – A quest is a common theme in novels of all kinds – the quest for love or power or wealth makes a great basis for a story. One of my main themes in Helter-Skelter is Albie’s quest for his biological father. 

George has known Albie for a few months when he asks Albie the QUESTION “Why were you sleeping under the pier?” and this is the moment Albie tells George about it:

 Albie stared at the tattoo on the back of George’s wrist and spoke so softly that George could only just hear.

“Mum told me to eff off. She was going to stay with this bloke, she said – the one what hit her – and they didn’t want a gyppo bastard tagging along.” He stirred his tea savagely. “She’s always calling me that – says a gypsy got her in the club. Anyhow, I’d fed meself for months, she said, so I could carry on doing it. Then they both laughed, so I effed off.”

Is it any wonder that he searches for his father? Anyone would be an improvement on a mother who treats her twelve-year-old son that way. 

Years later, Albie and Bert are QUAFFING their ale in their local tavern when his own mother fails to recognise him and propositions him. Imagine the horror of that.

QUESO = cheese, which we love. Most local cheese is made from goats’ milk – any cows have to live under cover away from the fierce sun – and many Canarians breakfast on QUESO FRESCO Y MEMBRILLO , which is a sweet jelly made from QUINCES. They are very sweet toothed, but I prefer my breakfast sharper-tasting. Lemon curd works well!

 

QUIERO – is the first person singular of the verb QUERER. It can mean simply “I want” as in “I want that shirt”, but it can also mean “I love”. "TE QUIERO" = "I love you." I suppose it could also mean “I want you” but I’ve never been in that kind of situation with a Spanish speaker!

QUEUES & QUESO

QUEUES. The British have a reputation – left over from WW2, I believe – for orderly queuing, but the way they manage a queue in Tenerife is with numbered tickets. In the butchers’, the chemist or the Post Office you take a ticket when you go in and wait your turn. If there’s a long wait you can have a coffee across the road, nipping back every so often in case the numbers have shot by unexpectedly quickly. It beats the old system of arguments and pushing.

Even so, there are always people who consider their time is more precious than yours. One woman actually asked me in the Post Office if I would say we were together. I was so flabbergasted that I didn’t say "No" strongly enough, and when my turn came she tagged along. “I’m with her,” she said to the clerk, and pushed her enormous parcel across the counter in front of me. “No you’re not,” the clerk responded, raising her eyebrows at me, “Get a ticket,” and she shoved the parcel back. The woman went off in a huff – I think she might have tried claiming she was my daughter, but she was black and I’m not.

When we need a blood test we go to El Fraile which has a bigger medical centre than ours. Before they built the new Centre we used to queue in the gardens, trying to hear our names called over the sound of a dozen full-volume conversations and shrieking children. It was a struggle - the Spanish come up with many variations on our names – Young is not an easy word for them to pronounce, and they use either of my two Christian names, so it can be confusing. Also the OH is extremely deaf. 

In the new Centre there’s a Security guard who keeps the noise level within limits and stops queue-jumping. Besides, we’re old hands now, and if shove comes to push, we’re not backward in coming forward.

Here's a picture of my eldest, learning to queue at an early age.

QUESO – LO QUIERO = cheese – I love it! A simple sandwich of tasty Cheddar and home-made chutney. Macaroni cheese with crispy bacon bits on top. Fresh French chȇvres rolled in charcoal. Brie so runny you need a spoon. Saint Agur on crusty bread. Freshly-grated Parmesan on pasta. That cheese with the black rind that costs a fortune from the deli. The goats’ milk and sheeps’ milk cheese in Tenerife. I’d rather give up meat than cheese!

QUALITY STREET. And while we’re on the subject of edible heaven, how about QS? Those purple ovals that everyone dives for, the gold-wrapped discs of toffee, strawberry creams, little baby milk choc bars – what a pity I’m diabetic.

QUITTING I smoked my last cigarette on my birthday - March 24^th. Three and a half weeks gone – a lifetime to come.