In Mérida the marquesita carts come out at night. A man pours a thin batter onto a hot iron, presses it, and it crisps like a big wafer. Then the filling. The old one, the real one, is Nutella and grated queso de bola, the Dutch cheese. Sweet and salty together. He rolls it up tight while it is still hot and hands it to you in a paper. You eat it walking.
What is a marquesita?
A marquesita is a Yucatecan street dessert from Mérida. A thin batter is pressed on a hot iron until it turns crisp, then filled, most classically with Nutella and grated Edam cheese (queso de bola), and rolled into a crunchy tube. It is sweet and salty at once.
Where marquesitas come from
The marquesita is not an old Maya dish. It was invented in Mérida by Don Leopoldo Mena, Don Polo, an ice cream vendor. In 1910 he started selling the plain wafers in the cool months when ice cream sold slow. In 1945 he put Dutch cheese in the wafer, and that was the marquesita. The name came from a Marquis whose daughter loved them. The cheese is the surprise. Queso de bola, the round Dutch Edam, grated onto warm Nutella so it half melts. People who have never had it do not believe sweet and cheese until they taste it.
The vendors press the batter on a round iron, like a flat waffle machine. At home a flat skillet or a crepe pan does it. A pizzelle iron gets it crispest if you have one.
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs plus 2 egg whites
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup oil (or melted butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For filling (the classic):
- Nutella, or other chocolate-hazelnut spread
- Queso de bola (Edam), grated
Instructions
- Whisk the batter. Flour, eggs, milk, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and salt, until smooth and thin. Let it rest a few minutes.
- Heat a flat skillet or crepe pan over medium-high and brush it with a little oil or butter. If you have a marquesita or pizzelle iron, use that, it gets crispest.
- Pour about a quarter cup of batter and spread it thin. Thin is the whole secret. Thin is what makes it crisp.
- Cook about thirty seconds a side, until gold and crisp.
- While it is hot and still soft enough to bend, spread Nutella over it and scatter the grated queso de bola on top.
- Roll it up tight into a tube right away, before it cools. As it cools it sets crisp. Eat it warm.
Tips and variations
- Thin and hot. A thick batter steams instead of crisping. Spread it thin and keep the iron hot.
- Roll while warm. Once it cools it will crack instead of rolling. Fill and roll fast.
- No marquesita iron. A pizzelle iron is the home stand-in. It gives the same thin crisp wafer.
- Other fillings. Cajeta (dulce de leche), cream cheese, jam. But the queso de bola with Nutella is the one to make first.
Serving
Eat marquesitas hot, the moment they are rolled, while the shell is crisp and the cheese inside is soft. They do not keep. They are made and eaten on the spot, the way the carts in Mérida do it.
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Edam Cheese (Queso de Bola)
Grated Dutch Edam is the salty half of the classic marquesita, melting against the warm Nutella. Castello rounds grate clean.
Nutella
The chocolate-hazelnut spread that pairs with the cheese in the original marquesita, the sweet half of the sweet and salty.
Pizzelle Iron
The home stand-in for the marquesita iron. C. Palmer extra-thin model presses the batter crisp enough to roll.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a marquesita?
A marquesita is a Yucatecan street dessert from Mérida: a thin batter pressed crisp on a hot iron, filled with Nutella and grated Edam cheese (queso de bola), and rolled into a crunchy tube.
Are marquesitas like crepes?
They start like a thin crepe batter but they are pressed on an iron and cooked until crisp, not soft. The result is closer to a rolled wafer than a crepe.
What is queso de bola?
Queso de bola is Edam, the round Dutch cheese in red wax. Grated onto a warm marquesita it half melts and gives the salty side of the sweet-and-salty.
Do you need a special iron for marquesitas?
A round marquesita iron is traditional. At home a flat skillet or crepe pan works, and a pizzelle iron gets it crispest.
What do marquesitas taste like?
Crisp and light, sweet from the Nutella and salty-nutty from the melted Edam. Sweet and savory together in one bite.
Why did my marquesitas not crisp?
Almost always the batter was too thick or the iron was not hot enough. A thick batter steams instead of crisping. Spread it thin, keep the iron hot, and let the wafer set crisp as it cools before you eat it.
About Fili Post
Fili Post is from Xaibe in the Corozal District of Belize. She is Mayan. She grew up eating game from the bush — gibnut, deer, chachalaca, iguana — and she has been making her own recado from hand-ground spices for as long as her family can remember. She sold spices at a stall in the Corozal market. She still sources locally and grinds her own blends. Her recado is known to locals as the best they can get. She raised yard birds, guinea fowl, and the occasional pig. She writes for the Belize News Post.
