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Best Queso flameado in Chicago

“Melted cheese and chorizo, finished tableside with flame—served while still bubbling hot.”

Queso flameado

What the real thing tastes like

Queso flameado (lit. 'flamed cheese'), also known as queso fundido or choriqueso, is a dish of hot melted cheese and spicy chorizo that is often served flambé. Often compared to cheese fondue, it is a party dish; it is popular at cookouts and in restaurants as an appetizer. Almost unique in Mexican cuisine, in the cuisine of the United States this dish has been widely adapted and is considered a native dish in El Paso. In Mexico, it occurs in restaurants more often in the north. Typical main ingredients are melted cheese and a characteristic meat sauce of loose fresh chorizo, tomato, onion, chile and spices. It is served in a small, shallow casserole or other ceramic or metal heat-proof baking dish. The cheese and sauce are prepared separately, and combined just before serving. This may be done at the table, especially if finished with a flambé: high alcohol liquor is poured on the cheese and ignited, and as it burns the server folds in the sauce. If not flambéed, the mixture may be qu

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Queso flameado arrives at your table still bubbling in its shallow ceramic dish—melted cheese folded together with a loose chorizo sauce of tomato, onion, and chile, sometimes finished tableside with a dramatic pour of high-proof alcohol set alight. You tear off pieces of soft tortilla, spoon the molten mixture onto them, and eat it while the heat is still working. Born in the northern borderlands as a campfire dish, it's become a restaurant staple in Mexico's north and a naturalized favorite in places like El Paso, where it's considered as local as anywhere else serves its own food.

Order it here when it has

  • dramatic presentation
  • customizable heat levels
  • communal/shareable format
  • textural contrast with soft tortillas

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