Is it quesillo or queso Oaxaca?
You’ve probably briefly asked yourself this mid-cheese pull as you devoured a tlayuda or stuffed your face with a stacked cemita.
The thought struck me after seeing a viral TikTok video. The brief comedy skit continued, setting up a typical situation for any Mexican American child who grew up going to Mexico’s grocery stores with their parents. In the skit, TikTok user Daniel Lechuga recounts his experience arguing with the cheesemonger and going back and forth with the lady at the counter. He is positive it is Oaxaca, and she swears it is called “quesillo.”
Unless you are Oaxaqueño or from Puebla, or you have an underground cheese plug, the cheese you are enjoying Stateside is queso Oaxaca. The main difference is that queso Oaxaca is made from pasteurized milk, and quesillo is made from unpasteurized milk. The unpasteurized milk provides a grassy, briny, and sometimes barnyard-like funk revered in the Mexican cheese world. Queso Oaxaca is more like American string cheese and has a flavor similar to an American-style mozzarella or Monterey Jack.
Cheese that can be finely shredded and is perfect for melting is known by several names in Mexico, including quesillo, queso para desebrar, queso de adobera, queso Chihuahua, and asadero. Quesillo is famous for its string cheese-like texture achieved by the hand motion of pulling the cheese apart. Aside from the fact that quesillo is made from raw milk vs. and queso Oaxaca is pasteurized, the foundation is the same.