When the Old World and New World collided in the 15thcentury, the conquistadors came to Central and South America with conquest, fame, and riches on their mind. However, after bringing disease and devastation to the indigenous population, the Europeans found themselves in a relatable situation: homesickness. In Alfred Crosby’s groundbreaking tome, The Columbian Exchange(1972), Crosby offered a new perspective on the first contact between Europeans and the New World, one that focused on the exchange of foods and agricultural goods between the Old and New World. While the Europeans brought crops like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, peanuts, bananas, coffee, and cacao back to the Old World, changing the foodways and culture, they also attempted to reproduce their own foodways in the New World. In particular, olive oil, wine, wheat bread, and cheese. The first colonizers in the Americas, the Spaniards and Portuguese, brought wheat seeds, cuttings of grape vines, olive tree rootstock, and lots of cows. Through trial and error, the Europeans eventually found firm footings for these staple crops and animals.
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Cheese is a purely European introduction in Latin America. There were no large, domesticated animals in Latin America, except alpacas, which were purely used as pack animals. The indigenous populations in Latin America also were lactose intolerant, with adults losing their ability to digest lactose. Despite dairy being an introduced product to the Americas, it quickly became a cultural staple. While European settlers in the United States and Canada sought to replicate European cheeses precisely, taking their names and following their techniques, Latin Americans took inspiration from European cheeses and made them their own, evolving them for the climate and developing new flavors.
The plethora of cheeses throughout Central and South American countries is reflective of the country of origin of its colonizers, with a breath and diversity only matched by that of European countries. In Mexico, cheesemaking arrived with Spanish settlers. The first record of cheese dates from 1585 when a rancher named Diego Montemayor started producing a Manchego-style cheese (Yescas, 2016, 468). While slow to spread past the Spanish population, cheese eventually became a staple part of the cuisine, featured in traditional dishes like chile rellenos, quesadillas, frijoles, or used to thicken and flavor sauces or to garnish refried beans. Mexican cheeses are usually fresh and too numerous to name due to the regional, small scale on which they are produced. However, some of the most popular and interesting cheeses include Queso Qaxaca, Queso Cotija, and Chihuahua.
Queso Qaxaca is a pulled curd cheese, similar to mozzarella, and originally from the town of Etla in the southern state of Oaxaca. Traditionally, cheesemakers pull the cheese into long strains that are then wound together in a ball, resulting in a cheese that looks like a ball of yarn (Yescas, 467). Queso Cotija is one of Mexico’s few aged cheeses. Dry, salty, and granular in texture, the cheese comes from the states of Jalisco and Michoac where it is made during the rainy season in the mountains and then brought down to the town to age. Similar to the Protected Designation of Origin (POD) status of many European cheeses, in 2005 the Mexican Government granted the Cotija a Collective Trademark, which requires that the cheese be produced only in these two states, each wheel weigh 49 pounds, be salted with Colima salt, and be aged for at least two months. However, despite the Collective Trademark, there are copies of the cheese marketed as Cotija from other parts of the country (Ibid). Chihuahua, named after the Mexican state from which it originates, stands out from other Mexican cheese as the techniques for making the cheese comes from Mennonite farmers rather than the Spanish (Sung, 2017). Made by the descendants of Swiss Anabaptists, who settled in the state during the 16th century, the cheese resembles a mild cheddar in taste and texture.
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| Queso Qaxaca. Source: Cremeria Romero |
Argentina’s cheese culture has a heavy Italian influence, with cheese bearing diminutions of the names of Italian cheeses. Reggianito, or “Little Reggiano,” is the Argentine interpretation of Parmigiano Reggiano. Coming in smaller wheels and aged for a shorter period of time than Parmigiano, the cheese is the most exported cheese in Argentina, creating controversy as many foreign consumers mistake it for its Italian counterpart. The mix up is one of the many reasons Parmigiano Reggiano received PDO status. Another diminutive, Provoleta, is the Argentine spin on Italian Provolone. The cheese is similar in taste and texture to the original, but unlike the Italian provolone, Argentinians consume Provoleta by grilling it in small disks and pairing it with grilled meats and spicy sauces. Finally, Argentina’s answer to Italy’s sheep’s milk pecorino is Sardo, a cow’s milk cheese with a slightly salty taste and semi-hard texture (Ditaranto, 2014).
In Brazil, cheese can be found at every meal, including dessert, and reflects the depth and variety of textures, tastes, and immigrant influences within the country. Two of the most popular cheeses, Catupiry and Queijo Minas, come from Minas Gerais, the Brazilian state with a large Italian immigrant population. Catupiry is a brand of cheese that falls under the category requeijão, a ricotta-like cheese with a flavor similar to Brie or Camembert. An Italian immigrant named Mario Silvestrini developed the cheese in 1911. Queijo Minas, named after Minas Gerais, has a texture similar to buffalo mozzarella and holds particularly great weight in Brazilan culture. In May 2008, the cheese was declared part of “Brazilian Immaterial Cultural Heritage,” and the cheese can be traced back to the Portuguese region of Serra de Estrella. Finally, Queijjo Coalho is a rubbery curd cheese, often prepackaged on skewers to be roasted. The cheese does not melt but rather browns and is a beach snack staple (Ditaranto, 2014).
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| Queijo Coalho grilled on skewers. Source: UM Como |
Numerous other countries in Latin America also produce a variety of distinctive cheeses that are a central part of their cuisine, including Venezuela, Uruguay, and Honduras. However, for the purpose of this post, I am focusing on our closest southern neighbor, Mexico. In recent years, Mexican cheesemakers have suffered from three main barriers. First, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) resulted in the Mexican dairy market being flooded by cheap dairy products from the U. S, including powdered milk and cheese. In 2008, Mexican dairy farmers took to the streets protesting the elimination of trade barriers that put their products in competition with U.S. subsidized dairy (Freidberg, 2009, 230-231). In addition to locking horns with the U.S. over the trade of dairy products, Mexico and Spain spar over Manchego. As a former Spanish colony, Mexican cheesemakers make a cow’s milk version of the Spanish staple sheep’s milk cheese. Spain claims that Manchego’s PDO status makes it illegal for Mexican cheesemakers to call their cheese Manchego (Agren & Jones, 2018). On the consumer side, industrial cheese has increasingly entered the market, but these cheeses tend to be adulterated and carry fillers that negatively impact their quality and artificially raise their weight.
There were a number of cheeses I wanted to try making, but, due to lack of time, resources, and skill, I decided to tackle the most widespread, well-known, and versatile cheese in Mexico: Queso Fresco. Literally translated “fresh cheese,” Queso Fresco has a mild, slightly salty flavor and can be cut, crumbled, or melted on a variety of dishes. Making this cheese ended up being an adventure: I did not have quite the right culture (a mix of Mesophilic and Thermophilic rather than the called for Mesophilic) and my thermometer broke and said the ambient temperature was 90 degrees. I used the New England Cheesemaking recipe for Queso Fresco, which calls for keeping the milk at around 90 degrees constantly. After adding the culture and then the rennet, I tried to cut the curd to just over half an inch. I ended up cutting it too small, which causes the cheese to be drier.
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| Draining curds in butter muslim |
The cut curds are gradually heated again and stirred to induce the release of whey. Once the desired firmness is achieved, the curds are drained, salted, and then pressed. I ended up separating the curds into two cheeses, one like a traditional Queso Fresco and the other to be rubbed with salt and let to sit out and dry.
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| My Queso Fresco with a salt rub |
I’m excited to try more Latin American cheeses. The innovation and creativity displayed by Latin American cheesemakers produces delicious cheeses to be eaten alone or used as an ingredient. European colonization may have introduced cheese to Latin America, but Latin America made cheese its own.
Works Cited
Agren, D. & Jones, S. (2018 Jan 15). Cursed are the cheesemakers: Spain and Mexico locked in manchego dispute. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/15/spain-mexico-trade-deal-manchego-cheese-dispute.
Ditaranto, J. (2014a Nov 4). Latin American cheese: Brazil. The World of Cheese Culture. Retrieved from https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/latin-american-cheese-brazil.
------. (2014b Nov 11). Latin American cheese: Argentina. The World of Cheese Culture. Retrieved from https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/latin-american-cheese-argentina.
Sung, E. (2017 Jan 31). A guide to buying Mexican cheeses. Epicurious. Retrieved from https://www.epicurious.com/holidays-events/get-to-know-your-basic-mexican-cheeses-article.
Yescas, C. (2016). “Mexican Cheeses.” By Donnelly, C., The Oxford Companion to Cheese. New York City: Oxford University Press.
