Goiabada

Goiabada.

Commercially sold Goiabada.

Goiabada is a popular dessert throughout the Portuguese-speaking countries of the world, dating back to the colonial days in Brazil, where guavas were used as a substitute for the quinces used to make marmelada (Quince cheese). Abundance of sugar and slave labour were crucial for its confection, in large cauldrons cooking over a slow fire. It is a conserve made of guava, sugar and water. It is still commonly made at home for family use or by home industry outlets (traditional recipes) or as processed food.

It is known as guava paste or guava cheese throughout the English-speaking Americas, especially the Caribbean and pasta de guayaba in Spanish speaking Americas. It is commercially available, most often packaged in flat metal cans.

In Brazil, goiabada is usually eaten with Minas cheese. This combination is referred to as "Romeo and Juliet", a custom attributed to a Bulgarian influence. It is particularly popular spread on toast at breakfast, or served hot with cheese inside an empada pastry, as a kind of miniature pie. In Portugal it is used as the filling of the popular "bolo de rosas" (rose cake) in which a layer of pastry is covered with goiabada, then rolled and cuts into pieces that resemble roses. This same cake is called "rocambole" in Brazil and also uses a layer of pastry covered with goiabada, then rolled and served.

There are many different kinds of Goiabada, depending on the type of guava, and with slightly different textures and flavors. In Brazil, the most widely accepted to be the best (for "Romeo and Juliet") is called "goiabada cascão" (with fragments of guava in the paste).

See also

• Bocadillo, a similar confectionery from Colombia