The Animal Science interns and our director were graciously welcomed by Amita and her niece and nephew to learn how to make queso blanco, the simple white cheese. Amita our neighbor in San Miguel makes about thirty to forty blocks of queso blanco every morning to sell at the local chino, general store.
Step #1: Remove el suero or “whey” from the buckets of milk that is filled with separated curds and way. Use a strainer laid over another bucket to catch any stray curds we can use for the end product. Stick your hand into the bucket and mix around the curds so el suero can rise. El suero can be dumped into another bucket periodically or tossed. Amita gives it to her pigs.
Step #2: Once all of el suero removed from the buckets, the curds must be squished into baseball sized balls and placed into a big mixing bowl or bucket, as seen below.
A video of us removing el suero and wringing out the curds. Plus a sneak of Amita’s house.
Step #3: Amita took the balls of queso blanco, shoving them into the top of the grinder and cranking the handle with her other hand. The grinder she uses can be bought at the chino in San Miguel for $27. Sweet price.
Step #4: After half the balls were grinded she added the salt. Add to taste. Remember she adds for about 20 in this batch.
Step #5: Take the grinded and salted queso blanco and push them into a square shape. Amita has a wooden frame her husband made. It looks easy enough to make with a little jungle scrap.
When all of the squares a shaped wrap the queso squares in banana leaves if possible. Most people don’t have access to a machete or a banana tree so, plastic will do.
Notice To The Valley:
QUESO BLANCO ESTÁ LLEGANDO!
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