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RedPowerLady's avatar

What is this cheese called? (description inside)

Asked by RedPowerLady (12618points) June 12th, 2009

At work a woman who speaks English as her second language, and has told us she is from Mexico, was telling me a recipe. I jotted it down as she spoke because it sounded delicious. But she couldn’t remember the name of the cheese in the recipe.

This is what she told me:
“The round white Mexican cheese”. Any Ideas??

It is being used to stuff peppers in case that makes a difference.

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25 Answers

sandystrachan's avatar

could it be panela or something that sounds like that, i am unsure of its proper spelling or how you would say it .

bythebay's avatar

It might be either cotija, asadero, or queso. All very common in larger grocery stores.

Kayak8's avatar

@RedPowerLady

Because of how you want to use the cheese (melted), there are a bunch of Mexican melting cheeses:

Asadero (mentioned above by BTB) is a stronger flavored melting cheese. I like Chihuahua whish is milder so it doesn’t overwhelm anything else you are adding to the peppers.

Check out this site: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/resources/a/mexicancheese.htm

applesaucemanny's avatar

the only round white Mexican cheese I know of is queso fresco
here

Kayak8's avatar

chihuahua cheese is round, asadero can be round,

RedPowerLady's avatar

Thank you everyone. This is a great starting point. I’m going to write these names down and check them out in the store. Starting with the two melting cheeses mentioned above.

AstroChuck's avatar

@Kayak8- That’s good cheese but those little dogs are hard to milk.

alive's avatar

is the dish ‘chile rellenos’?

if so, mozerella, monterey jack, pretty mcuh any cheese that will stand the heat. generally white cheese is used but i have seen them with cheddar too.

(if it is a crumbly cheese it is most likely ‘queso fresco’ ...but i think you are looking for a melting cheese, right?)

Guide to Mexican Cheese
(it might not be a Mexican chese though, like i said it could be mozzarella etc.)

RedPowerLady's avatar

@alive They didn’t tell me what it was called. She was having some difficulty speaking in English but she was really excited about the recipe. I do think it was the melting cheese though. I’ll look up chile rellenos to see if that is it. Thanx.

cyn's avatar

@RedPowerLady my mom makes chile rellenos with queso fresco so it might be queso fresco…

RedPowerLady's avatar

@cyndihugs Oh thanx. I’ll have to look into it then.

Dang I wish she would have just told me. LOL

alive's avatar

if you do figure out what the dish is called, i bet we can figure out what the cheese is.
=)

cyn's avatar

@RedPowerLady it’s the one applesaucemanny mentioned…

Darwin's avatar

My mom always made hers with Monterey Jack. This Spanish language site says: puedes usar todo tipo de queso: panela, ranchero, o queso mozzarella o gruyere. (you can use all types of cheese: panela, ranchero, mozzerella or gruyere)

Other sites list queso manchego (from Spain), queso fresco, queso Oaxaca, queso Chihuahua, or ranchero fresco.

Here are many recipes for chile rellenos that you could print and show to your friend. She and you could then discuss the recipes and thus broaden her ENglish ability as well as your cooking world.

Lupin's avatar

Could it be Tropical Cheese Queso Blanco or Queso De Frier? It looks like mozzarella cheese. They sell it a Price Chopper in this area.

Clair's avatar

i would say the queso since she described it as ‘the’ round white mexican cheese. i’d say it’s the most popular.

AstroChuck's avatar

@Clair- Queso isn’t a type of cheese, it’s the Spanish word for cheese.

Clair's avatar

@AstroChuck i know that. that’s just what it’s most commonly called and known as ( as a type of cheese ). around here, at least.

Darwin's avatar

Around here queso fresco, asadero, and queso ranchero are all round. Fresh mozzarella is also round but comes floating in liquid.

cyn's avatar

@Clair what type of queso are you talking about….be more specific

Clair's avatar

queso quesadilla. around here, all you have to say is queso and everybody says, “oh! i love that cheese!”
sorry for the confusion

cyn's avatar

@Clair
Oh! I love that cheese!

tavj930's avatar

Sounds like several of the Mexican cheeses. Queso asadero would probably have the best flavor and texture for stuffing peppers. Queso fresco has an almost ricotta texture but not as soft.

Strauss's avatar

They all sound delicious! Try ‘em all, and maybe a combination. It’s a matter of taste!
pun intended!

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