Cheeses of Mexico
Cheeses in Mexico have a history that begins with the Spanish conquest, as dairy products were unknown in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Spanish brought dairy animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, as well as cheesemaking techniques. Over the colonial period, cheesemaking was modified to suit the mixed European and indigenous tastes of the inhabitants of New Spain, varying by region. This blending and variations have given rise to a number of varieties of Mexican cheese. Mexican cheese varieties dominate the domestic market. Almost all cheese in Mexico is made with cows’ milk, with some made from goats’ milk. More recently, efforts have been made to promote sheep's milk cheeses. Most cheeses are made with raw milk. Cheeses are made in the home, on small farms or ranches, and by major dairy product firms. Between 20 and 40 different varieties of cheese are made in Mexico, depending on how one classifies them. Some, such as Oaxaca and panela, are made all over Mexico, but many are regional cheeses known only in certain sections on the country. Some of the least common are in danger of extinction.
History
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Mesoamerican diet did not include dairy products, so cheesemaking was unknown. The Spanish conquistadors brought cattle, goats, and sheep to the New World, permanently changing dietary habits. The Spanish also brought techniques to make cheeses from their homeland, such as manchego. Over time, the blending of European and indigenous peoples and traditions included the modification of cheeses to suit mestizo tastes. This adaptation varied from region to region, which has led to the variety of cheeses produced in Mexico today.While cheesemaking has always been a widespread, mostly home-based, activity since colonial times, the earliest regions to become known for their cheese are the Altos de Jalisco and the Comarca Lagunera area in Coahuila and Durango. Both are still major producers of cheese and other dairy products. Today, major cheese-producing areas also include Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Michoacán, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Toluca and Chiapas.
Despite centuries of cheesemaking experience, Mexico lags behind Europe in both quantity and variety. Most cheeses made in the country are made by small concerns and farms which sell their products locally.
While some cheeses, such as Chihuahua and panela, have become mass-produced and are made with pasteurized milk, the majority are still made locally with raw milk. Mexican cheeses are not standardized either by type, process or quality.
Mexican and Mexican-style cheeses have become more common on grocery shelves in the United States. Until recently, only the fairly common cheeses were available, mostly in Mexican restaurants, such as Cotija, sprinkled on top of certain dishes, and Oaxaca cheese, melted on tortillas. Now, companies in the US are recreating many of the fresh and aged cheeses from Mexico, with some even attempting the production of lesser-known varieties.
Production and distribution
Mexico is ranked 10th in the world for cheese production and eighth for consumption. Cheese sales in Mexico were 218,000 tons in 2003, with fresh cheeses making up over one-third of the market, the largest segment. Only 126,200 tons of the cheese consumed in the country that year were produced domestically, with the rest imported. About 10% of the milk production in the country is dedicated to the making of dairy products, most of which is cheese. The overwhelming majority of cheese is made with cows’ milk. While a number of cheeses are made with goats’ milk, they are not as popular and have gotten more difficult to find in markets. Shepherding, though, historically has never been a major commercial activity nationwide, efforts since the 1980s to promote sheep milk and meat have resulted in a significant rise in the number of sheep being raised. This is promoting the development of sheep's milk cheese in the country, although it still accounts for a very small percentage. One of the major sheep-producing states is Querétaro, with most of the milk destined for cheesemaking.Most “fresh” cheeses, unlike aged cheeses held for weeks or months, are aged for only days. This is not enough time to change the pH of the cheese enough to kill any harmful bacteria that may have been in the milk at the beginning of the process. The use of raw milk has led to a number of instances of food-borne disease linked to cheese, especially unaged, “fresh” cheeses. Cases of tuberculosis, listeriosis, and other diseases linked to cheese made in Mexico have led to strong restrictions against bringing the same across the US border or along with air travelers entering US airports. The most problematic cheeses have been panela, asadero, queso blanco, and ranchero, as these are not aged and are often made with unpasteurized milk. In 2008, the Mexican federal government published standards for cheese, with one of its purposes being the better sanitary control of the cheeses produced in the country. One of its major provisions is a ban on the sale of cheeses made with raw milk. However, critics state pasteurization is not the only way to guard against food-borne illnesses, and the process kills beneficial bacteria that affect the cheeses’ taste and health benefits of the cheese with the loss of live culture and enzymes. This is especially true of aged cheeses.
File:NuestroMercadoQuesos40.JPG|thumbnail|Cotija cheese for sale at the Nuestro Mercado de Quesos Artesanales held at the Parque Lincoln of Polanco, Mexico City
Between 20 and 40 different types of cheese are produced in Mexico, with a few made in great volume such as Chihuahua and Oaxaca. However, most are purely regional in nature, with the least common of these in danger of disappearing. As of 2016, there were four cheeses that have been granted a collective trademark by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property: Queso Cotija, Queso de Bola de Ocosingo, Queso de Poro de Balancán and Queso Crema de Cuadro. Other cheeses that have applied for this protection were Queso Molido of Zacazonapan, Mexico State, Queso Ranchero de Cabra of Perote, Veracruz, and Queso Molido y Añejo of Tepalcatepec.
Producers vary from large factories, which usually produce common varieties for supermarkets and other large outlets, to small farms which handcraft cheeses. Some of the better-known major producers include Chilchota, Covadonga, Wallander, Esmeralda, and Los Volcanes. Chilchota was the largest producer in 2003. Since then, Grupo Lala has become the largest producer in Mexico. Mass-produced cheeses are usually sold in supermarkets and large traditional markets in modern packaging, and their quality is not considered to be as good as those made by smaller concerns. Homemade cheese is still made in the country, which is often derisively referred to as “bathtub cheese.”
File:FeriaQuesoVino10.jpg|thumbnail|Smoked provolone at the Feria Nacional del Queso y el Vino in Tequisquiapan, Querétaro
The national wine and cheese festival, Feria Nacional del Queso y el Vino, takes place annually in Tequisquiapan, Querétaro, at the end of May and beginning of June. The event not only celebrates the area's wine and cheese tradition, but also invites participants from other parts of Mexico and the world.
In some of the better traditional markets, such as Coyoacán and San Juan in Mexico City, more handcrafted cheeses from small local farms can be found. In Chihuahua, cheese is made with cattle descended from those the Spanish brought, and its production is still an important part of the culture. Most cheesemaking there is most often carried out in the home or on ranches, where ranchers get up early to start the process by milking the cows and making queso ranchero, requesón,'' panela, and others. Locally produced or handcrafted cheeses can be found in puestos de queseros or cheesemongers’ stalls, packed into baskets and wooden hoops, wrapped in corn husks, or pressed into flat, white, wide disks. Some specialty cheese producers have been invited to compete internationally. The Carlos Peraza family won a medal at the Cofradía de Quesos de Saint Maure in Touraine, France. In Baja California’s wine country, a notable cheesemaking business is La Cava de Marcelo. This business is named after owner Marcelo Castro Ramonetti, who is a fourth-generation cheese maker from a family who originally came to Mexico from Switzerland in 1911. The facility is located 4 m below ground, measures 360 m2 and is made of crystal and stone. It has been visited by food tourists from around the world, and featured on Internet sites such as chow.com. The tasting room holds 40 people and the facility stores 10,000 pieces of cheese. The facility specializes in providing cheeses to gourmet restaurants and stores in Mexico. Some of their cheeses age as long as 2 years.
The majority of cheese produced is Mexican style, but some purely European styles such as feta, Spanish manchego, Saint Maure, and Camembert are also made. The state of Guanajuato is known for its reproduction of European cheeses, especially those from France.
In Chiapas, personnel from the have been investigating a Spanish cheese called la Serena, which is made in the region of Extremadura with the aim of creating a certified version of it in Mexico. This includes the importation and raising of Merino sheep, as well as learning the methods behind this cheese. The reason behind the effort is that large parts of the state have a similar climate to Extremadura, making the raising of this sheep possible. Researchers have found they can not only reproduce la Serena'' cheese, but produce a number of other varieties, as well. Despite their ability to produce milk for cheese, most sheep in Mexico are raised for wool and meat. This strain of Merino sheep has been bred for milk production.