Cotija
Cotija is a Mexican cheese named after the town of Cotija in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is a dry, hard, crumbly Mexican cheese usually made from cow’s milk. A young Cotija is white, salty and fresh similar to feta, but an aged Cotija becomes hard and crumbly similar to a Parmesan. It’s often used through salads and casseroles or crumbled on tacos, empanadas and many other Mexican dishes. Traditionally, Cotija cheese was made with raw milk however commercially (and in this homemade cotija recipe) a starter culture is added to create a similar result.
Makes approximately 400g
You can make cotija cheese using our Mediterranean Cheese Making Kit.
Ingredients
FOR THE CHEESE
2L full cream unhomogenised milk
10 drops (or 0.6ml) Calcium Chloride
3-4 grains of Mesophillic Starter Culture
⅛ Tablet Rennet or 1ml Liquid Rennet (diluted in 30ml cool, non-chlorinated water)
1/8 cup salt
FOR THE BRINE SOLUTION
500ml boiled water
1/8 cup salt
1/4 tsp. Citric Acid
12 drops Calcium Chloride
Instructions
CULTURING
Pour the milk into a saucepan and stir in the calcium chloride
Warm the milk to 38 °C (whilst constantly stirring to prevent scalding)
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the Thermophilic Starter Culture. Allow the culture to rehydrate in the milk for 2 minutes - before stirring it through for 30 seconds
Cover the saucepan and let it sit undisturbed in a warm spot (e.g. in an oven on ‘warm’ setting, or kitchen sink with warm water) for 20 minutes to ripen
SALTING
Add 1/8 cup cheese salt (un-iodised) to the milk and stir it through thoroughly
RENNETING
Measure out 30ml of cool, non-chlorinated water and stir the rennet into the water until it has completely dissolved
Stir the diluted rennet solution into the milk. Count to 30, then stop stirring immediately
Again, cover the saucepan and let it sit undisturbed in a warm spot (e.g. in an oven on ‘warm’ setting, or kitchen sink with warm water) for a further 60 minutes or until a clean break (clean knife incision) is present
CUTTING THE CURD
Once a knife can be inserted cleanly into the set curd (clean break), cut the curd into 2.5cm cubes. If the curd is still soft (no clean break), allow it to set for a further 10 minutes
Allow the cut curds to rest for 10 minutes
PRESSING THE CURD
Using the slotted spoon, gently scoop the curds into the Cheese Cloth-lined colander to drain. Allow the curd to drain for 10 minutes before scooping into a cheese cloth-lined small cheese press or something like the Halloumi Mould and Press Plate
Cover the curds completely with the Cheese Cloth and press for 30 minutes
Turn the cheese over and continue pressing for 12-16 hours at room temperature
Prepare the brine solution and allow to cool
BRINING THE CHEESE
Remove the cheese from the press and place in the brine for 30 hours. If the cheese gets slimy in the brine, check out our troubleshooting section for tips or get in touch here
Remove the cheese from the brine and place in a container with draining rack, similar to this one, to allow the air to circulate. Place container in the fridge for two weeks to mature
Flip the cheese every two days and dry rub with salt if any mould appears.
After two weeks the cheese will be ready to eat