The unofficial web page of the greater Cuenca expat community
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That my fellow peeps is a plastic bag for queso fresco, a staple in many Ecuadorian´s diet.
According to Wikipedia:
Queso fresco is a creamy, soft, and mild unaged white cheese, commonly used in the Iberian Peninsula and in several American countries, including Mexico. The name queso blanco is Spanish for "white cheese", but similar cheeses are used and known throughout the world by different names.
They are also known as "bag cheeses"
Now, the protagonist in that video--Brandon-- was making Lasagna. My first thought was that using Queso Fresco in lasagna would be blasphemous, although I have never made it myself. After Googling a recipe for Lasagna I realized Ricotta Cheese and Cottage cheese can be used in Lasagna, and both are young cheeses.
Anyway, I decided to get to the bottom of this. I furtively left a comment using the "Anonymous" login since I am persona non grata.
Here is the question and the answer:
Q: Hi, I noticed on the counter "queso fresco". Do you use that cheese as a substitute for Ricotta cheese? Does it taste similarly? Thanks.
A: Queso fresco (fresh cheese) tastes nothing like Ricotta cheese. Queso Fresco is similar to Mozzarella cheese. We substitute a homemade white sauce for the Ricotta cheese when we make lasagna.
Thanks for commenting.
Of course that answer opens up a serious of other questions like how can you use a white sauce for Ricotta cheese, but I will leave it there for now.
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||||Returning to the subject of Queso Fresco, I was noticing there is another young cheese called Queso Mozarrella in the same section by the same manufacturer. I am scratching my head as to why the frugal bloggers didn´t select that variety instead of the Queso Fresco in their lasagna.
Now to add to the confusion there is this comment on a web page about how to make Queso Fresco:
Note from a customer
I have used your Queso Fresco instead of mozzarella in pizzas and lasagnas and my family LOVES it! It melts beautifully, especially if placed on top of a tortilla and heated in the stove.
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Lactujubones is a mixed public-private company that sells some of their product to Supermaxi and other shops, while simultaneiously giving away for free the product to thousands of families.
The thing is, you have to drink it fast! There is only a three day period between the elaboration date and the expiration date. With ultra-pasteurized milk you get at least a month with the bag, and up to 6 months with the box.
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Just when we thought we had heard our last rant from a blogger about the supposed epedemic of complaining expats, a new one pops into my in tray.
Don't come to another country to complain about things here. Stop comparing them to your own country. it is not like your country and your are probably here here because it is not like your country and/or it's more affordable. The affordability is a direct result of the relationship between the wages and the cost of living here, both of which are roughly 10% of that in America.
I really wish these bloggers would stick to first or second hand reporting of these incidents, rather than simply rolling with some unconfirmed anecdote because it gives them something to write about.
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Schullo is a natural foods manufacturer based out of Quito and Guayaquil. You see their products all over the Supermaxi.
I got to recommend these cookies, since they are my favorite:
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Tag this one as a "deep thought".
I bought the following bag of spaghetti sausce for my lasagna. The packaging indicates that it contains 400 grams. That is a measurement of weight.
If you look at a jar of American spaghetti sauce, the contents is provided in ounces which is a measurement of liquid.
Since I am using a recipe that is given in the U.S. standard, I needed to convert 400 grams to fluid ounces.
As ehow.com explains,
Since a fluid ounce is a measure of volume and a gram is a measure of weight, you can't actually convert grams into fluid ounces. However, if you know the density of a liquid, you can figure out how many grams of the liquid are in a fluid ounce
Anyway, I did the conversion using a utility on the internet and it indicated 13.525609023560001 fluid ounces.
I had dumped the contents into a measuring cup before using it and it was around 12 ounces, so it seemed to correspond with the conversion.
P.S. That bag of spaghetti sauce cost me $1.26.
|||ZenSPIKE wrote:Okay.... since you brought up Italian. My biggest concern is: Hot, Spicy Italian sausage. It can be cased, or bulk. Is it available, Oh food guru??
I would hope the Ital Deli has a spicy sausage that you will like. If so, let us know including names. They all look like variations of Oscar Mayer hotdogs so I never know what to order. Here is the place 10 minutes from you on Simon Bolivar near Sen Sebastian park.
Speaking of Ital Deli, I bought ground beef (carne molida) for my lasagna the other day. If I did my math right, at $5.89 per kilogram, that equates to about $2.67 per pound. They have only one variety of ground beef, and I have no idea what the fat content is. 
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||||||First for a word on dairy products,
I sampled these two cheeses below, and there is not a whole lot of difference between them in terms of taste or texture. Since the Mozzarella is a $1 more for the equivalent size package, I will be sticking with the Queso Fresco.
The Frugal bloggers would be back in good standing with me with this discovery, but they suppressed another one my comments on their blog yesterday.
||So when the frugal boggers posted this article on their blog, I immediately recognized the place. I left the following comment:
That is the Olimpo Builidng. I recognized it immediately from the light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.
In any case that comment got suppressed, I guess because they don´t want the readers to figure out for themselvers where the apartment is located. It is a common practice by real estate people not provide that information for obvious reasons.
But I am going to tell you where it is. The Olimpo builidng is located behind the store Stuper Stock on Juan Pío Montufar.
Speaking of hanging light bulbs, I thought this blogger had a good suggestion for making them more presentable, in case you have them.
Even the most modern condos here have bare light bulbs hanging from the ceilings. Our Ecuadorian apartment had over eleven bare ceiling bulbs that needed inexpensive but fun artsy coverings. When we saw this vendor's beautiful colorful lanterns, it was our answer. She sold them for $5 to $9 each, depending on the size and style. Now our apartment looks magical at night when the lights are on!
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