Mexico has a rich gastronomy and cheese is well positioned in the rural and urban current living, hence many varieties associated to the traditions, milk local production and food availability of each town can be found. It has been reported that traditional Cotija has more than 400 years of history. Recently, a geographic origin indication (IG) was approved for protecting its production from industry imitations and analogues. The main characteristics of traditional Cotija are close to the Italian family cheeses. It has a dry, pressed and crumbly texture, its format is a huge wheel of 20 to 22 kg of weight and it is ripened a minimum of three months, during this time the color of the surface turns golden and its aroma becomes richer, these typical characteristics help the consumer to distinguish it from fresh varieties or from other cheeses. Traditional Cotija is produced only during the summer, is made with whole raw milk of cows feed with fresh pasture; the milk is not standardized nor additives or starter cultures are added. In the fermentation process several native lactic acid bacteria (BAL) grow and during ripening some of them survive, besides a mixture of BAL, non-BAL and yeasts develop mostly on the surface. The microbial population and the specific conditions of manufacture influence the acidity and the volatile profile of the cheese, including the hygiene practices, the microbial quality of the milk and the material into which the tool, equipment and recipients used during processing are made of. In a recent work using the SPME-GC-MS technique, we found that in the early stages of maturation, free fatty acids, terpenes and methyl esters were developed; after the 30th day of ripening, ketones, alcohols and other esters appeared and their concentrations increased. Some of the identified compounds in Cotija cheese, like 2-heptanone, butanoic, hexanoic, octanoic, decanoic acids and their esters, are associated to blue cheese, goat, fruity, musty and rancid aromatic notes and had been reported for other cheeses like cheddar or parmesan with 6 or more months of ripening. Due to the fact that traditional Cotija is produced and ripened under artisanal conditions differences in between wheels are expected, non the less the main operations are carefully followed to preserve the tradition, steps that are jealously mastered by the cheese makers who proudly keep the knowledge inherited by the family ancestors to produce the best cheese of the community.

Mexican Cotija cheese: Flavors that keep more than 400 years of tradition

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.