{"id":1608284,"date":"2021-04-15T13:42:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T18:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1608284"},"modified":"2023-09-21T09:10:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T14:10:09","slug":"what-is-oaxaca-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/what-is-oaxaca-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Oaxaca Cheese?"},"content":{"rendered":"There are few things in life better than sinking your teeth into a piece of cheese, whether it's something creamy, like Brie, or sharp, like an aged cheddar. It's no wonder we're constantly on the hunt for new types of cheese<\/a>!\r\n\r\nMeet Oaxaca<\/em>, a cheese with roots in Mexico that has gained widespread popularity over the past several generations.\r\n

What Is Oaxaca Cheese?<\/h2>\r\nOaxaca cheese (also known as queso Oaxaca<\/em>) hails from its namesake city of Oaxaca, Mexico, where it's still most commonly produced today. It's a stretchy, stringy, creamy cheese with a mild, buttery, slightly salty flavor and a yellowish-white hue. It's a rindless cheese, which is why it's often rolled into a yarn-like ball and sold in a rope shape. This helps preserve the semi-soft cheese's flavor and elasticity.\r\n\r\nOaxaca is a member of the pasta filata<\/em> cheese family. Though the pasta filata process is originally from Italy, the tradition is believed to have been brought over to Mexico by Dominican monks who settled in Oaxaca. Water buffalo milk\u2014which is typically used to make mozzarella<\/a>\u2014was unavailable, so they used the more accessible cow's milk instead.\r\n

How Is Oaxaca Cheese Made?<\/h2>\r\nOaxaca is made in a unique way that requires both patience and skill\u2014one of the many reasons this cheese is so coveted. During the cheesemaking process, rennet is added to whole milk to separate the curds and whey<\/a>. The curds are then submerged in hot water to soften the curds and make them pliable. In the last step, the curds are stretched long and thin and thoroughly kneaded to create the desired stringy texture of Oaxaca.\r\n\r\nMost of the Oaxaca cheese is still produced in Mexico, but several dairy farmers and cheesemakers across the U.S. have mastered the process to create this cheese. Crave Brothers Farmstead<\/a>, a family-owned dairy farm located in Waterloo, Wisconsin, makes and sells a variety of tasty cheeses, including mozzarella and Oaxaca.\r\n\r\nGeorge Crave, the company's head cheesemaker, says, \"Oaxaca is a great snacking cheese and tastes wonderful in a variety of meals. It's quite universal.\"\r\n

Where to Buy Oaxaca Cheese<\/h2>\r\nLook for Oaxaca cheese in Mexican or Latin American grocery stores. More often than not, Oaxaca is sold based on weight, but some brands sell it pre-shredded in resealable bags. You can also find Oaxaca-style cheese at most Whole Foods, HEB and Publix locations, or in the specialty cheese section of your neighborhood grocery store.\r\n

Oaxaca Cheese Substitutes<\/h2>\r\nIf you don't have Oaxaca handy or are unable to find it in a store near you, there are a few substitutes that offer a creamy texture and delicious, buttery flavor. As a rule of thumb, the best substitutes for Oaxaca are other stretched-curd or semi-soft cheeses.\r\n