By Ines Keane
Stir. Wait. Stir again. Every description of cajeta we found comes back to the same instruction: cook it slowly and keep it moving.
What it is
Wikipedia describes cajeta de Celaya as usually made of sweetened, caramelized goat’s milk. It says that in Celaya and elsewhere in Mexico, a blend of half goat’s milk and half cow’s milk became the standard. The Christian Science Monitor, in 1996, describes cajeta as basically the cooked mixture of goat’s milk and refined sugar, sometimes with flavorings such as vanilla or cinnamon. The Guanajuato state tourism blog says goat milk and sugar are cooked slowly and constantly, stirring, until the mixture is thick and golden caramel in color.
The sources disagree on the milk. The Monitor and the tourism blog say goat’s milk. Wikipedia says half goat’s and half cow’s has become standard. We show each.
How it is cooked
Wikipedia says the candy is made by simmering milk or sweetened liquids, stirring often, until water evaporates, thickening and caramelizing the mixture. It does not mention a copper pot. The Monitor does: in cajeta’s peak years in the 1950s, it says, makers combined the ingredients in copper pots over wood fires, then wrapped the mix in waxed paper or poured it into jars to sell on the street. The tourism blog says some varieties, such as cajeta quemada, take twice as long to cook.
Where the name and the recipe came from
The sources tell different stories. The Guanajuato tourism blog says cajeta began when a ranch worker adapted European dulce de leche methods using the region’s abundant goat milk, in the Spanish colonial period. It says the name comes from small wooden boxes, cajetes, used for packaging, and became cajeta in popular usage at train stations. The Monitor says its roots trace to Spain, where a similar sweet called leche quemada, or burnt milk, exists, and that Celaya became its historic center because of abundant local goat herds.
Our reading is that the two accounts agree on a Spanish origin and a goat-rich Celaya, and differ on the details. The ranch worker and the train-station story come from a tourism blog and we have found no second source.
Why soldiers valued it
Wikipedia says that during the independence struggle of 1810, cajeta was valuable to troops because it was easily stored and carried and lasted for months without spoiling. We have not checked the claim against a history of the period. Our reading is that it is a plausible reason for a sugar-heavy food to travel well, and we do not offer more than that.
A bicentennial title
Wikipedia says that in September 2010 cajeta was declared the Bicentennial Dessert of Mexico. We have not checked who made the declaration.
Varieties
Wikipedia lists plain cajeta, eaten on its own or as a spread or topping, cajeta envinada, made with liquor, and cajeta envinada especial, with raisins, almonds, pecans or other nuts. The tourism blog adds vanilla, pine nuts and walnuts, and says sugar-free versions exist. It lists spreads, wafer-based treats, ice cream, fudge, popsicles and glorias as modern forms. We have not checked any maker’s recipe.
Wikipedia says cajeta is used as a bread and pastry filling, a topping for ice cream and crêpes, and a filling between obleas. The Monitor says it can be poured over ice cream, fruit or cake, or into hot milk.
A craft in decline
The Monitor, in 1996, says cajeta production peaked in the 1950s, with dozens of family operations, and declined from the 1970s as industrial candy makers displaced home producers. By 1996 it says only a handful of traditional makers remained in Celaya, and production had shifted to nearby states, including Jalisco and San Luis Potosí. The article is nearly thirty years old, so we do not use it as a picture of today. The tourism blog describes a cajeta festival in Celaya in October and traditional candy shops in the historic center, which suggests the trade continues in some form. We have not checked the festival or the shops.
The dates in order
Wikipedia gives 1810 for the independence period, when cajeta traveled with troops, and September 2010 for the bicentennial title. The Monitor places the peak in the 1950s, the decline from the 1970s and the state of the trade in 1996. The tourism blog gives the colonial period for the origin without a year. The sequence runs from a claimed colonial start to a mid-century peak and a decline, with a festival in the tourism blog’s account of today. Each step comes from one source.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia is a reference work, the Monitor a 1996 newspaper feature and the other a state tourism blog. None is a food-history book. We say so because the origin stories deserve that caution.
What we left out
We left out the tourism blog’s account of a record-setting batch, the festival’s details, and any shop name. We have not checked any of it.
What it means for a buyer
Our view is that cajeta is easiest to judge by its ingredients and its method. Ask what milk is used, whether the maker cooks it in a pot or an industrial kettle, and where it is made. The sources say Celaya is the historic center, and that production has also spread to other states. A label that says Celaya should tell you where it was cooked, and we do not know if any rule backs that up.
Where sources differ, we show each: the milk blend, the origin story and the name. We list them in the check file.
Roam first. Shop later.