Tequeño
Tequeño is a fried spear of wheat dough stuffed with semi-hard queso blanco, and is a popular meal or snack in Venezuela. To prepare it, the dough is wrapped around a cheesestick, formed into a breadstick and then fried or sometimes oven-baked. Tequeños can be eaten for breakfast, as an appetizer, or as a snack at parties and weddings. 21 October is the International Tequeño Day, and it was declared a cultural heritage of Venezuela on 20 April 2023.
Due to the influx of Venezuelan immigrants into their countries over the past few years, it has become increasingly popular in Spain and Argentina, among other countries.
On 21 October 2023, in Los Teques, a tequeño of 15.3 m was made to commemorate the city's 246th anniversary, beating the previous Guinness World Record of 5 m. The dish required a 18 m fryer and 32 kitchen assistants to prepare it.
Origin
One of the most widely accepted versions is that they were invented by the Báez sisters, who lived in Los Teques, in 1912. They named their improvised creation “quesitos enrollados” and started to sell them in the city and, after some time even sold them in Caracas where they gained great popularity. Another version says that some time in the 19th century an affluent family was vacationing in Los Teques, and one of their cooks served them this dish, which they named tequeños in honor of the town.Some believe that it actually dates back to the 1700s in the now gone neighborhood of El Teque in Caracas.