Cotija | Cacique® Inc. (2024)

FAQs

Cotija | Cacique® Inc.? ›

Queso Fresco

An unaged, white cheese, it is similar to Cotija cheese due to its soft yet firm texture. Queso fresco crumbles easily, making it a great topping for salads, sprinkled on beans, or as a garnish for enchiladas.

Queso Fresco

An unaged, white cheese, it is similar to Cotija cheese due to its soft yet firm texture. Queso fresco crumbles easily, making it a great topping for salads, sprinkled on beans, or as a garnish for enchiladas.

Cotija (/ˌkoʊˈtiːxə/, koh-TEE-khə) is an aged Mexican cheese made from cow's milk and named after the town of Cotija, Michoacán. White in color and firm in texture, its flavor is salty and milky.

One of Mexico's most famous cheeses, cotija is a semi-hard, slightly aged cheese with the crumbly texture of parmesan but a stronger, saltier flavor. Try as you might, cotija cheese won't melt, so it's sprinkled or crumbled on everything from soups and salads to tacos and tostadas.

Cacique Foods LLC

The business sold a minority stake in 2021 to Boston-based hedge fund The Baupost Group and this year shifted its headquarters from Monrovia to Irving, Texas. CEO Gil de Cardenas and the rest of the Cardenas family remain majority owners.

Despite all their differences, you can absolutely substitute one for the other. Both add a welcome creamy element to food, but cotija tends to be more easily found in stores. Keep in mind that cotija will be a bit saltier than queso, so depending on the application of the cheese or your taste, you may want to use less.

Best overall substitute: Feta cheese is the best like-for-like substitute for cotija cheese. You can use it exactly as you would use cotija (either as a filling or garnish). It has a very similar crumbly texture, salty and mild flavor, and can be found at most local grocery stores.

Packaged cotija cheese typically comes with a 'best by' or 'use by' date printed on its packaging, which is usually about 6 months from its production day given it's still sealed. Once you've opened the package, the cheese should stay fresh for about 2 to 3 weeks if stored properly.

While Cotija will soften with heat, it doesn't melt, making it most suited for crumbling and sprinkling. Of course, it's most frequently in Mexican cooking—you might see it as a finishing flourish on enchiladas, nachos, tacos, chilaquiles, or posole.

On January 11, 2024, Rizo-López Foods, Inc. recalled the aged cotija cheese product after Hawaii state officials found Listeria in it. On February 6, 2024, Rizo-López Foods, Inc. recalled all cheese and other dairy products made in their facility.

Why is there no queso Cacique in California? ›

Cacique conquered the west coast. But about six years ago, De Cardenas started thinking California was constraining the company's growth. They were getting interest from grocery chains as far away as Florida, New York and Michigan.

Cacique Foods, the maker of a leading brand of authentic Mexican-style cheeses, cremas, chorizos and salsas in the United States, this week announced that it has ceased operations at its dairy factory in City of Industry, California, and is relocating its dairy production to its new state-of-the-art facility in ...

Cotija is in the parmesan cheese family and, fun fact, it's even referred to as “the parmesan of Mexico.”

Queso fresco is available at some supermarkets and at Mexican grocers. Feta cheese makes a good substitute. Opt for a mild one if you can, or soak a block of feta in fresh water to tone down its tanginess. A young ricotta salata (firm Italian cheese sold at most supermarkets) will also work.

Queso fresco is a Mexican cheese whose name literally means “fresh cheese.” Queso fresco is a type of queso blanco, or white cheese, made from cow's milk alone or from a combination of cow and goat milk, and acidified with rennet, lemon juice, or vinegar.