Antonina Falla

Biography

Antonina Falla de Tavera is considered the forerunner of the current formula of quesillo yaguareño, which over the years has become a tradition that today is intangible cultural heritage of the municipality of Yaguará, Huila, Colombia.

Antonina Falla was born in Hobo, Huila, on December 31, 1891. She married Miguel Tavera in the municipality of Yaguará, with whom 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 short woman, illiterate and with certain difficulties in speaking. She was mainly dedicated to food preparation and household chores.

Origin of the current formula of quesillo yaguareño

String cheeses in the municipality of Yaguará have been made since the 18th century, but it was Antonina who created the current recipe for quesillo that made this snack so famous, which has transcended through time and has been consolidated as a cultural tradition and an economic driver in the area.

According to the testimony of her grandson Armando Tovar, the formula arose in the first decades of the 20th century by accident, when Antonina, together with a friend, was preparing the ingredients to make bizcochos de achira at her home. During the process, they noticed that the milk to which they had added cow rennet had not solidified.

Worried about the situation, they thought they had prepared it incorrectly, so they added to the milk a little fermented whey from previous days. The result was something different: a half-curdled cheese. Disappointed, they cooked that mixture until it melted, and in 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 quesillo. At first, she gave this quesillo to her neighbors as a courtesy. Because of its delicious flavor, the neighbors began to request more and offer payment. Little by little, these quesillos were taken by wealthier people to their relatives in Neiva and Bogotá, and even the brothers Reinaldo and Camilo Cabrera took them to the United States while specializing in medicine. In this way, the product became known and began to gain recognition.

Antonina taught her secret formula to the also remembered quesilleros Ramón Tovar, father of Belén Tovar; Evangelina Torres Cruz, wife of Adriano Tovar, Antonina’s son; Mercedes Manchola; Florinda Fierro; and many other people who dedicated themselves to the craft.

Unintentionally, Antonina created a whole new tradition and consolidated a product that today generates many jobs in Huila.

Antonina Falla de Tavera died in 1968 in the municipality of Yaguará.

Currently, in the municipality of Yaguará, during the reign and tourism festivities, the Festival del Quesillo is held, where the best gastronomic samples around this dish are exhibited, and a giant quesillo is usually created that seeks each year to become the largest quesillo in the world.

In tribute to quesillería 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 sculptor.