Chihuahua Cheese

Queso Chihuahua is a semi-hard, pale yellow cow's milk cheese from the northern Mexican state of the same name. It is also called queso menonita, after the Mennonite communities who settled in Chihuahua in the 1920s and brought the cheesemaking tradition it grew out of. The flavour is mild and buttery, a little tangier than a young cheddar, and it becomes more pronounced as the cheese ages. Its defining quality is how it melts: smoothly and evenly, without turning greasy or stringy in the way some cheeses do. That makes it the northern Mexican cheese of choice for anything hot — quesadillas made with flour tortillas, queso fundido (melted cheese served in a dish with chorizo or mushrooms, scooped up with tortillas), chiles rellenos, gratins, and burritos. It is the cheese most often meant when a northern Mexican recipe simply says "queso para fundir". Because the flavour is gentle it also works uncooked, cubed into salads or eaten with fruit, though its melting behaviour is what it is prized for. In the UK, queso Chihuahua is sold by Mexican and Latin American grocers and online Mexican food shops. Monterey Jack is the standard substitute where you can find it; failing that, a mild cheddar, Edam or a young Gouda will melt acceptably, and mozzarella works if you accept a stringier result and a blander flavour. Avoid mature cheddar for melted dishes — it separates and turns oily. Store it wrapped in the fridge. Like most semi-hard cheeses it keeps for a couple of weeks, and it grates more cleanly when properly cold.