Mexican cheese tends to be fresh cheese, unaged and mostly made from the cow’s milk with the occasional goat’s milk variety. They are soft, yielding cheeses, light and fresh full creamy of goodness. It is great for garnishing and flavour booster on pastas and pizzas as well as enchiladas and tostadas and is probably most famous as spectacular flavour finish on Mexican style grilled corn on the cob.
Here are some of the excellent Mexican cheeses you should get to know and love along with delicious ideas for how to use them:
1. Quesco Fresco: This soft and creamy white cheese makes the best toppings for chorizo studded guacamole, bright cabbage and avocado tacos or sweet tangy grilled corn. It is mild cheese that is creamy and fresh with salty and sour tang. The cheese is best used to highlight grilled vegetables and garnish chilled soups.
2. Quesco Anejo: Quesco Aneja is the aged version of Quesco Fresco. Well- aged batches can become quite firm and salty, making it an excellent garnish. You can use it for gorgeous rack of lamb.
3. Cotija: Mexico’s hard cow’s milk cheese in street food style biscuits, sweet- salty corn salad or on top of spicy black bean dip. The Cotija Cheese Manufactures In CA manufacture cotija cheese using cow’s milk and is a seasonal cheese produced by artisan cheese makers living high in mountains. Made from the cow’s milk this cheese softens when heated but not enough that it actually melts. It does its best work as garnish and is most well-known for finishing off elote, a famous street food found in Mexico.
4. Panela: This Mexican version of cotija cheese is great for grilling. The best Panel cheese suppliers in California make semi-soft, white cheese from the cow’s milk. It is firm, flexible, and will not melt when heated. The cheese is gently salted and can be eaten plain as a snack or it can be sliced and used as a sandwich filling. It is often served as appetizers like quesadillas, or as a desert pairing like quince paste.
5. Manchego: The delicious cheese was introduced to Mexico from Spain. In Mexico it is made with the mixture of cows and goat’s milk instead of sheep’s milk.
Oaxaca: The semi-soft cheese has strands similar to those in mozzarella with a flavour same to un-aged Monterey Jack. Oaxaca is super creamy, mild cheese and is best known for its ability to melt like a dream.