🧶 Oaxaca cheese

Oaxaca cheese is a soft, unripened Mexican cheese stretched into long ribbons and wound into a ball or braid. It is a pasta filata cheese, like mozzarella: the curd is kneaded in hot water until it turns elastic. The name comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, where the cheese originated.

As described by PROFECO, Mexico's consumer protection agency, cow's milk is acidified — naturally or with glacial acetic acid — to 35–38 Dornic degrees (ordinary milk has 14–20) and coagulated with rennet. The curd is cut, drained, melted with hot water at 70–80 °C, kneaded, pulled into ribbons, cooled in cold water and wound up. 100 L of milk yields 9–11 kg of cheese. FAO describes a rindless, plait-shaped cheese weighing from 100 g to 3 kg that can be kept for 7 days at 4 °C.

In Mexico, the name “queso” is protected by the mandatory standard NOM-223-SCFI/SAGARPA-2018 (published in 2019, in force a year later): only a product made from milk with no fat or protein of other origin may be called cheese. Oaxaca cheese has its own standard, NMX-F-733-COFOCALEC; the 2010 edition cited by PROFECO required at least 21.5% protein and 20% fat and at most 51% moisture. In 2012 PROFECO tested 52 products and found samples with vegetable fat and starch. According to USDA, 100 g of Oaxaca cheese has 297 kcal, 22.1 g each of protein and fat, and 532 mg calcium.

Oaxaca cheese or mozzarella? They are relatives: both are pasta filata cheeses whose curd is melted in hot water and kneaded until elastic, and FAO notes that Oaxaca technology grew out of mozzarella's. The difference is the shape. Oaxaca is pulled into long ribbons and wound into a ball or braid, so it comes apart in strands, while mozzarella is usually sold as a smooth ball. Oaxaca comes from the Mexican state of the same name and has its own Mexican standard, so it is a separate cheese rather than a local name for mozzarella.

On a pack, look for the name “Oaxaca” with “queso” or “cheese”, and for a ball or braid of wound ribbons. In Mexico a product with fat or protein of other origin may not be called “queso”, so a large “OAXACA” with a small “imitación” signals an imitation. Check that the pack is intact and chilled. You will find it in supermarkets with a Latin American section, in delicatessens and in specialist online shops.

Why it matters to you. Check the label: if “OAXACA” is printed in large letters and “imitación” in small ones, it is an imitation, not cheese. Buy it chilled in an intact pack and put it straight in the fridge.