Cuajada is usually served as dessert with honey and walnuts or sometimes sugar, and, less often, for breakfast with fruit or honey. Raw warmed milk is mixed with rennet or with plant extracts and left to curdle. It was traditionally made in a wooden recipient called a kaiku and heated with a red-hot poker, giving it a distinct faintly burned taste.

Cuajada means ‘curdled’ in Spanish. In Basque, it is called mamia.A similar product named Coalhada is found mostly in northeast Brazil, especially in rural areas. It is made from curdled milk (specifically boiled) and yoghurt. Recipes vary but usually contain sugar and/or fruit juices for sweetness.