Latin American cheeses

Abstract

Latin American cheeses, also know as Hispanic-style cheeses, are a category of cheeses developed in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Some cheeses were developed using milk from native domestic animals while others were based on European cheese recipes brought over with the introduction of European cattle and since been modified to accommodate local preferences and cheese-making conditions (Van Hekken and Farkye, 2003). Latin American cheeses have become increasingly popular in the U.S. in the twenty-first century (Fig. 16.1; NASS, 2001, 2005a, b, and 2006; IDFA, 2006). According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2006), people of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity currently represent an estimated 14.8% of the U.S. population. As the Hispanic population increases in the U.S., so does the market potential for Latin American cheeses grows as well (Path, 1991). For example, in 2006, over 82 million kg (181 million pounds) of Latin American cheeses were manufactured in the U.S. - a tremendous increase over the 30 million kg (67 million pounds) produced in 1996 (NASS, 2007). © 2009Springer-Verlag New York.