I've had a lot of delicious cheese in my day. Creamy cheese. Hard cheese. Crumbly cheese. Stinky cheese. Fruit-filled cheese. Ash-filled cheese. Aged cheese. Fresh cheese. Stringy cheese. California cheese. Organic Cheese. :: GASP :: And I've even munched on the occasional bit of pasturized cheese product!
But, my most beloved cheese of 2009 was the humble, delicious, and stunning queso fresco.
I wasn't a total stranger to this cheese; I remembered bits of it crumbled on my ocasional order of enchiladas. However, until this year, I'd never really snacked on this queso for queso's sake.
The Salazar's introduced it to me on my brief So Cal visit in November. I was a little unsure of what I should expect from my snack of cold cheese slices served in a skillet-warmed corn tortilla. I hadn't had any sort of unmelted quesadilla before... But ultimately, I gave in to the better judgement of my hosts.
My first bite was life-changing. The unaged cheese was incredibly mild but full of fresh cow milk flavor. And because it wasn't over-salted, the flavor of the tortilla was able to really shine. I was so instantly enamored with the cheese that I made a batch of savory crepes the next morning for brunch and served them with queso fresco and ham.
After a few tries, the California-made Ranchero by Cacique is my favorite brand. The Casero by El Mexicano is also very popular and tasty, but I find that its more dry. Perhaps I'll try to make it from scratch in 2010.
My advice: Try it and share bites with your friends. If the bunch of you can't enjoy it in one sitting, make sure to store it in an odor resistant container - since it's such a mild, fresh cheese an inferior container may impart funky tastes or smells rendering your nice bit of cheese totally inedible.
Photo credits: me
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