The sauces on the side make it a party: a creamy queso-fresco concoction, a rich rocoto-chili crema, and a green aji-pepper sauce for a tiny bit of heat.
The appealing appetizers included icy-cold gazpacho avocado soup, enhanced by cucumbers, peppers and creamy avocado; queso fundido, a bubbling-hot fiesta of asadero cheese, chorizo, roasted poblano chiles and mushrooms painted with cilantro pesto; and ancho chile chicken with black beans, smoked bacon and fire-roasted corn.
His grilled cactus salad is an edifying heap of contrasts: beefy nopales, creamy avocado, sharp onions, salty queso Cotija ($11).
But nachos recently mystified a group of diners — they had been made with the creamy cheese sauce known as queso, and there was so little of it that it was mistaken for sour cream.
Restaurants and individual contestants will vie for the top honors to see which salsa reigns supreme, which margarita is the most magnificent and which queso is the creamiest in both a traditional judged competition and a people's-choice award.
The pleasantly creamy, sweet vegetarian version is made from grated Andean corn, fresh queso blanco cheese and sugar.
Creamy mac and cheese gets an extra drizzle of Velveeta-colored queso, collards are strewn with pulled pork, and spicy baked beans contain tender chunks of burnt-end brisket.
The queso's first offense, alas, is that it was not creamy but thin, more soupy than any dip should be, and strangely light, with none of the satisfying heft one expects from melted cheese.
