Asadero Cheese
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Asadero cheese (''queso asadero'' meaning "roastable" or "for grilling," also spelled "azadero") is a white, flat Mexican cheese that is made fresh from goat and cow's milk. "Asadero" is the kind of cheese, and individual pieces of the cheese are called "asaderos." The milk is mixed with another mixture of milk and
rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease, protease enzyme that curdling, curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, su ...
and then boiled for thirty minutes. The mixture is churned, cooked again and then flattened into flat, round shapes while it is still hot. It is a mild cheese that melts well. It is often eaten with bread or
tortillas A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread from Mesoamerica originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indi ...
. Asadero is sometimes confused with Chihuahua and
Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
cheeses. Asadero cheese began to be made during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
in Chihuahua. The cheese was also made in
Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
. Later, the recipe was brought with immigrants to the
Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
. In the past, recipes for asadero cheese may have used the poisonous silverleaf nightshade berries to
curdle Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; u ...
the milk instead of rennet.


See also

*
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 ...


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Licon Dairy Azaderos Cheese Process
Mexican cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses