Mexican Cheeses

Photo by Greg Bryan, Arizona Daily Star. Clockwise from bottom left: Oaxaca, queso fresco, Meononita or Chihuahua, Cotija (queso seco), Cotija (enchilado), panela and requesón.

Today's Arizona Daily Star's food section has several great features on Mexican cheeses, including this primer on the different varieties. Since the paper's content is available online only for a week, I'm copying and pasting instead of linking. Here's the article:

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Mexican cuisine cheeses
Karen Hursh Graber, senior food editor for Mexico Connect, a monthly electronic magazine on all things Mexican, lists the cheeses most frequently found in Mexico:

Fresh cheeses:
• Queso blanco — Creamy, white cheese made from skimmed cow's milk and described as a cross between cottage cheese and mozzarella. Softens when heated but doesn't melt. Good for stuffing enchiladas.
• Queso fresco — A spongy white cheese, used to crumble over snacks as well as on enchiladas and taquitos. Usually made of cow and goat milk. A very mild feta is an acceptable substitute.
• Queso panela — Also called queso de canasta because it carries the imprint of the basket in which it is molded. A soft, white cheese most often served as part of an appetizer or snack tray. It absorbs other flavors easily, and is sometimes coated with a garlic-and-chile paste, or wrapped in toasted avocado leaves, to be served with cocktails.
• Requesón — A loose, ricotta-like cheese used to fill enchiladas and to make cheese spreads. You may substitute a mild but not salty ricotta.

Soft cheeses:
• Queso añejo — An aged version of queso fresco. Classified as a soft cheese, but can become quite firm and salty as it ages. Used primarily as a garnish, crumbled or grated over a variety of dishes. Substitute Romano.
• Queso Oaxaca — Also called quesillo. The most popular cheese for quesadillas. A stretched curd cheese, kneaded and wound into balls. Pull it apart into thin strings before using to fill tortillas or melted on cooked food. Substitute mozzarella or string cheese.


Semi-soft cheeses:
• Queso asadero — Specifically a melting cheese, used to make the Mexican fondue called queso fundido, a dish that adapts well to other ingredients and is usually eaten as a late-night supper. Fontina and Monterey Jack are fine substitutes.
• Queso Chihuahua — Also called queso Menonita, after northern Mexico's Mennonite communities where it was first produced.
It is pale yellow and varies from mild to a nearly cheddarlike sharpness. Used in a variety of dishes; especially good in queso frito, a breaded, fried cheese dish. Chihuahua cheese is available outside Mexico, so substitutes shouldn't be necessary. However, you could use a very mild cheddar or a flavorful Jack cheese in many recipes.
• Queso jalapeño — A smooth, soft white cow's milk cheese with bits of jalapeño chile in it. Serve as a snack or use to make quesadillas.

Semi-firm cheeses:
• Queso criollo — Pale yellow; a specialty of the region around Taxco, Guerrero. So similar to Munster, one easily can be substituted for the other.
• Queso Edam — Although not considered a Mexican cheese, Edam has become such an intrinsic part of Yucatecan regional cooking that it is worth including here. The cheese round is scooped out, filled with a seasoned meat picadillo, and steamed in the oven the same way a custard is prepared. It then is presented whole, accompanied by a salsa roja.
• Queso manchego — Introduced to Mexico from Spain's La Mancha region. Buttery yellow and also popular outside Mexico. Good for melting or serving with fruit or crackers. Widely available in the U.S., but Monterey Jack may be used instead.

Firm cheeses:
• Queso añejo enchilado — Queso añejo with a spicy red chile coating. Aged to the point where it serves as a condiment. A strong feta cheese could be substituted for it.
• Queso Cotija — Named for the town of Cotija, Michoacan, where it originated. A sharp, crumbly goat cheese called "the Parmesan of Mexico." Usually served over beans and salads.
• Queso manchego viejo — As its name implies, this is manchego aged to the point where it hardens with a more intense flavor. Quite often shaved over botanas, appetizers or snacks.

Information from Karen Hursh Graber. More information and recipes, here.
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It's my sense that most, if not all, of these cheeses are available at the Food City markets in Tucson.