Mexican cheeses for pizza?

[pyegal]

Just wondered if anyone uses any of the Mexican/Hispanic types of cheese on their pizza and if so, what do you like?

We have a very large Hispanic population in North Carolina and I saw several different types when I was buying the Poly O mozzarella the other day at the local WalMart. There was one labeled as Quesadilla cheese. I would think that would be a good melting cheese.

I know that mozzarella is the traditional pizza cheese, and I have even had fresh mozzarella on occasion, but to my taste, I just don't think it is anything to write home about. I would be more apt to add some grated provolone - maybe smoked provolone? ummm... - to get more flavor from the cheese on my pizza.

Any thoughts?
pyegal

[Pete-zza]

Pyegal,

I live outside of Dallas, which also has a large Hispanic population. I also go to Mexico a couple times a year, so I am interested in Mexican cheeses that I might be able to use when making pizzas there. Usually, to be on the safe side, I freeze a couple packages of mozzarella cheese and bring them with me to Mexico. I have tried quesadilla and a few other Mexican cheeses on pizzas but I have found that it takes some getting used to.

One combination of "Mexican" cheeses that I have used on a Mexican style pizza I make with ground beef and herbs and spices includes cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, asadero and queso blanco. The asadero cheese has a slightly tangy taste like provolone cheese, and the blanco is a cheese similar to mild cheddar or Jack cheese. Rather than buying the four cheeses separately, which would be far more than I can use for my purposes, I have found them in the supermarket sold together in one of those bags that hangs from a hook. It's one of the rare time that I use a packaged blend. But it works fine for my recipe.

In addition to the cheeses mentioned above, other possible choices of Mexican cheeses that might warrant experimenting with include Enchilado (recommended for use on pizzas), Oaxaca (recommended for use on pizzas), Quesadilla, Chihuahua, and Queso Cotija, a hard grating cheese similar to feta cheese and called the Mexican Parmesan cheese. 

Peter

[bakerboy]

pyegal.  We also have a large mexican population in southeastern pa. and yes, there are some good cheeses that you can use for pizza.  The best i have used was the Oaxaca style cheese.  It really is almost exactly like a fresh mozzarella. (even looks like a ball of mozz)  Its completely white.  There are other decent melters that are orange colored on the outside.  this might be what they are referring to as quesadilla cheese.  i've never used them on pizza so i'm not sure.  Then there are others that are crumbly and salty. Cotija is one that comes to mind.  these are great crumbled on salads but they're not great melters in my opinion.  They are similar to a feta or maybe a ricotta salata.     Hope this helps.
Barry

[pyegal]

Thank you both. I've made a note of the cheeses you mentioned and will look for them next time I shop.

On the other hand, today I made a quick tortilla pizza for lunch using the Poly O, but this time I diced it in cubes rather than sliced it and had better results. I just think most mozzarella lacks flavor and wanted to try some other cheeses on my pizza. I do like mixing mozz and provolone.

pyegal

[jeancarlo]

I use manchego cheese on my pizzas and it works pretty well, this cheese has a mild flavor and it melts just like any melting cheese. Here in the center part of Mexico there's many cheeses that you can't find in other places, not even if you do find that cheese but the flavour is totally different. I'll try panela which I think would be a good substitute for fresh mozz and will let you know about the results. Not the panela cheese you buy in stores but the one country people make such as here in my town which is excellent in taste. Maybe I'll stick to manchego cheese for business since mozz is kinda expensive here and gouda's too salty on pizza. A mix of cheeses I've tried are manchego, chihuahua, mozz, white cheddar and edam and it seems to be pretty good but now I'm thinking on using a mixture of mozz, manchego and chihuahua for pizzas. There's a lot of cheeses here but I also want to maintain the Italian flavour of the pizzas.