Foto

I was lucky once again and visited the town of Potes on a Monday, market day. The bustling market was surprisingly large and very appealing, with farmers presenting over several squares and the roads connecting them a variety of agricultural products. There were also many artisans with their crafted goods, but these don't usually interest me. A fair number of tourists were enjoying the market, and as everywhere else in the Northern Spain, most of them were Spanish.
Quesada Pasiega, featured in the foreground, is a cheesecake typical to Cantabria, based on fresh cow cheese. The pâtissier was selling a variety desserts, among which quesada seemed by far the most appealing to me, and in this image he is in the process of cutting a slice for me. You can tell that the quesada is the star of the show and the 1,25 € or so were well worth it. It is somewhat less sweet and rich in comparison to the North-American cheesecakes and hence is a lighter dessert. I was told, and my experience confirmed this, that Spain has little tradition in pastry making because the manufacture and storage of butter was, until the introduction of refrigeration, prevented by the high temperatures. Not so in the milder climate of Northern Spain, where also the pastry quality and selection is pretty decent.