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Cheese from Peru

Queso andino / quesillo andino

A semi-hard ripened cheese of the Peruvian highlands. As reported from the 2024 Peruvian standard, it is made only from pasteurised milk with rennet or other coagulating enzymes and a lactic culture, ripened at least 21 days and kept at no more than 6 °C. It is cylindrical or rectangular with a light natural rind and a firm, slightly elastic paste.

DocumentedCheese22 daysPeruvian standard NTP 105.004:2024 'Quesos regionales. Requisitos' (as reported)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe standard sets requirements, not amounts; no recipe was found.
Pasteurised milk[agraria-ntp]
Rennet or other coagulating enzymes[agraria-ntp]
Lactic culture[agraria-ntp]
Salt and permitted seasonings[agraria-ntp]
Starterlactic culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 22 days

Start
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75 °C

What changes: The milk is heated to kill harmful microbes before the culture goes in

Step 1 of 5
Pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
75 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A semi-hard ripened cheese of the Peruvian highlands. As reported from the 2024 Peruvian standard, it is made only from pasteurised milk with rennet or other coagulating enzymes and a lactic culture, ripened at least 21 days and kept at no more than 6 °C. It is cylindrical or rectangular with a light natural rind and a firm, slightly elastic paste. Made in 5 steps over 22 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 21 days (Agraria.pe 2024).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[agraria-ntp]Ripen
Temperature75 °CReported[trujillo2020]Pasteurise the milk

What makes this one different

Not a fresh cheese, as earlier lists had it, but a semi-hard ripened one. Peru's 2024 regional-cheese standard fixes pasteurised milk, a lactic culture and three weeks' minimum ripening.

Milk
Pasteurised milk (2024 standard)
Ripening
At least 21 days (2024 standard, as reported)

Related ferments

Safety

The 2024 standard requires pasteurised milk and storage at no more than 6 °C (as reported).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [agraria-ntp] Agraria.pe, 'Inacal define requisitos de calidad para los quesos regionales' (report on NTP 105.004:2024), 29 August 2025web
  2. [trujillo2020] Trujillo Miranda C., Zapana Yucra F.E. 2020, Estudio del proceso de elaboración del queso fresco y madurado en la región Puno, bachelor's research paper, Universidad Peruana Unión (section 2.4, queso andino, citing Álvaro Erazo 2018)archive
  3. [upeu2024] Huallpa-Huaylla A.R., Coaquira-Quispe J.J., Silva-Paz R.J. 2024, Características físicas, descriptivas y aceptabilidad de queso andino de la región Puno, Universidad Peruana Unión (thesis article, abstract)archive