PROFILE
| Full name: Antonina Falla de Tavera |
| Place of birth: Hobo, Huila, Colombia. |
| Birthdate: December 31, 1891 |
| Date of death: 1968 |
| Height: 1.50cm |
BIOGRAPHY
Antonina Falla de Tavera It is considered the precursor of the current formula of jaguar cheese, which over the years has become a tradition that today is intangible cultural heritage of the municipality of Yaguará, Huila, Colombia.
Antonina Falla nació en Hobo, Huila On December 31, 1891, he married Miguel Tavera in it municipality of Yaguará, with him she had five children: Domingo Tavera Falla, Rosana Tavera Falla, Adriano Tavera Falla, Ana Lucía Tavera Falla and Diego Tavera Falla.
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Falla is described as a woman of short stature, illiterate and with certain difficulties speaking, she was mostly dedicated to preparing food and doing household chores.
Origin of the current formula of the Jaguar cheese
The spun cheeses in the municipality of Yaguará they have been made since the 18th century, but it was Antonina who created the current quesillo recipe that has made this snack so famous, which has transcended through time and has been consolidated as a cultural tradition and driving force. economic in the area.
According to the testimonies of her grandson Armando Tovar, the formula arose in the first decades of the 20th century by accident, when Antonina, in the company of a comadre, was preparing the ingredients to make some achira sponge cakes at home. During the process they noticed that the milk to which they had added cow rennet had not solidified.
So worried about the situation, they thought that they had done the preparation wrong, so they added a little fermented whey from previous days to the milk; The result was something different: a half-cut curd. Disappointed by the situation, they took that mixture and cooked it until it melted, by doing so they created a kind of chewy cheese, which was quite elastic.
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After that Antonina continued experimenting, testing and improving the technique, until she perfected the current formula of the quesillo. Initially, she gave this quesillo to her neighbors as a courtesy. Given the delicious flavor the neighbors had, they began to request more and offer payment. Because of them, little by little these quesillos were taken by the wealthiest people to their relatives in Neiva and Bogotá, even the brothers Reinaldo and Camilo Cabrera took them to the United States at the time when they specialized in medicine. In this way, the product became known and began to gain recognition.
Antonina taught her secret formula to the also remembered quesilleros Ramon Tovar, father of Belen Tovar, to Evangelina Torres Cruz, wife Adriano Tovar, son of Antonina; to Mercedes Manchola, to Florinda Fierro, and many other people who dedicated themselves to the trade.
Without intending to, Antonina created a whole new tradition and consolidated a product that today generates many jobs in the world. Huila.
Antonina Falla de Tavera died in 1968 in the municipality of Yaguará.
Currently in the municipality of Yaguará, within the framework of the reign and tourism festivals, the “Quesillo Festival” where the best gastronomic samples around this dish are displayed and a giant cheese which seeks every year to become the largest quesillo in the world.
In homage to the cheese shop and especially to Antonina Falla and her work, in December 2019 the Mayor's Office of Yaguará installed in the Ángel María Paredes park, a bronze sculpture made by the master Emiro Garzón Correa, which honors Antonina and the Jaguar quesillo.
