Queso Oaxaca is a white, semihard cheese from Mexico

Cheeses of Mexico

Cheeses in Mexico have a history that begins with the Spanish conquest, as dairy products were unknown in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Spanish brought dairy animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats as well as cheese making techniques. Over the colonial period, cheese making was modified to suit...

, similar to unaged Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack is an American semihard cheese made using cow's milk. It is commonly sold by itself, or mixed with Colby to make a marbled cheese known as Colby-Jack . Cheddar-Jack varieties are also available....

, but with a mozzarella

Mozzarella

Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...

-like string cheese

String cheese

Several different types of cheese are known as string cheese. It is peelable and when peeled, it does so in strings or strips from the larger cheese....

 texture. It is named after the state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

 in southern Mexico, where it was first made. It is available in several different shapes. It is also known as quesillo Oaxaca or thread cheese when shaped like a ball. Shaped in bricks for slicing, it is called asadero (meaning "roaster" or "broiler") or queso quesadilla.

The production process is complicated and involves stretching the cheese into long ribbons and rolling it up like a ball of yarn

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...

. Italian mozzarella is another cheese which is processed by stretching (the pasta filata

Pasta filata

Pasta filata is a technique in the manufacture of a family of Italian cheeses also known in English as stretched-curd, pulled-curd, and plastic-curd cheeses.The cheese-making begins in the normal way...

process).

Queso Oaxaca is used in Mexican cuisine, especially in quesadilla

Quesadilla

A quesadilla is a flour or corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture containing cheese and other ingredients, then folded in half to form a half-moon shape. This dish originated in Mexico, and the name is derived from the Spanish word queso ....

s and empanadas, where the queso Oaxaca is melted and other stuffings, such as huitlacoche and squash flowers are added to the filling.