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Chihuahua Cheese is a Mexican pale yellow, semi-soft cheese with a flavour like that of Chester cheese, or of a mild white cheddar.

Whole cow's milk milk is heated to 149 F (65 C) for half an hour. The temperature is then lowered to 95 F (35 C) and a bacteria is added, along with annatto for colouring. Rennet is added to curdle the cheese, which takes about 40 minutes. The curd is then cut, salted, put into moulds and pressed. The cheese is then packaged in plastic and ripened for a month. It will have a shelf life of about a month after that.

The cheese ends up with a soft rind.

Though first made by Mennonites in Mexico, it is now made all over Mexico.

Cooking Tips
Melts well.

Substitutes
Mild cheddar, Monterey Jack, Chester.

Nutrition
50 to 51% fat content

History
First produced in Northern Mexico by Mennonites. In 1922, 20,000 Mennonites left Manitoba, Canada to escape repressive laws requiring schooling in English (the Mennonites had always run their schools in German.)

The refugees from Canada settled in the barren regions of Chichuahua in Northern Mexico. The Mexican government agreed to sell land at bargain prices and exempt them from tax for 100 years if they would make the lands fertile and produce most of the cheese needed for Northern Mexico.

Also called:

See Also:

Annatto

Other entries for:

Semi-Firm Cheeses
Appenzeller Cheese (Quarter Fat), Ardrahan Cheese, Asadero Cheese, Blue Cheeses, Botton Cheese, Brunost Cheese, Buxlow Paigle, Caerphilly Cheese, Cantal Cheese, Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese, Cheshire Cheese, Chèvre, Chihuahua Cheese, Cotherstone Cheese, Criollo Cheese, Danbo Cheese, Danish Fontina Cheese, Edam Cheese, Farmer's Cheese, Fontal Cheese, Gaperon Cheese, Grimbister Cheese, Huntsman Cheese, Jalapeño Cheese, Leerdammer Cheese, Liederkranz Cheese, Livarot Cheese, Maasdam Cheese, Manchego Cheese (Mexican), Monterey Jack Cheese, Morbier Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Pavé d'Auge Cheese, Pavé d'Isigny Cheese, Pavé de Berry Cheese, Penyston Cheese, Quartirolo Cheese, Queso con Loroco, Ricotta Salata Cheese, Tetilla Cheese, Vacherin Fribourgeois, Wensleydale Cheese

Other entries for:

Cheese
Affinage, American Cheeses, Casu Marzu, Cheese Rinds, Creamery, Double/Triple-Cream Cheese, Extra-Hard Cheeses, Firm Cheeses, Goat's Milk Cheeses, Mexican Cheeses, Pate (of a Cheese), Processed Cheese, Queso Fundido, Rennet, Sheep's Milk Cheeses, Skim-Milk Cheeses, Smear-Ripened Cheeses, Soft Cheeses, Surface-Ripened Cheeses, Sweet Curd Cheeses, The Crumblies, Truckle, Washed-Curd Cheeses, Washed-Rind Cheeses, Yak Cheese, Yeel Cheese

Other entries for:

Dairy
Butterfat, Butter, Milk, Nondairy Topping