Corn with Cheese (Choclo con Queso)
Big, sweet Andean corn cobs boiled until plump and tender, served warm with thick slices of fresh salty queso fresco. One of Peru's simplest and most comforting pairings.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Prepare the corn
Pull off the husks and all the silk threads, keeping two clean husks aside. Cut each ear in half crosswise so the pieces fit easily in the pot and are easy to hold once cooked.
- 4 ears fresh
- 2 corn husks
✅ Done when: ears are completely free of husks and silk, cut into even halves
Flavour the water
In a large pot, bring the water to a boil with the reserved husks, sugar and salt. The husks and a little sugar are the Andean trick for sweeter, paler corn without adding sweetener directly to the kernels.
- 2 litres water
- 2 corn husks
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fine sea salt
✅ Done when: water is at a full rolling boil
Cook the corn
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Drain and rest
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Serve the dish
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Prepare the corn
Pull off the husks and all the silk threads, keeping two clean husks aside. Cut each ear in half crosswise so the pieces fit easily in the pot and are easy to hold once cooked.
- 4 ears fresh
- 2 corn husks
✅ Done when: ears are completely free of husks and silk, cut into even halves
Flavour the water
In a large pot, bring the water to a boil with the reserved husks, sugar and salt. The husks and a little sugar are the Andean trick for sweeter, paler corn without adding sweetener directly to the kernels.
- 2 litres water
- 2 corn husks
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fine sea salt
✅ Done when: water is at a full rolling boil
Cook the corn
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Drain and rest
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Serve the dish
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The Story Behind the Dish
Corn, or sara in Quechua, has been grown and prized in the Peruvian Andes for thousands of years, long before the arrival of the Spanish. The large, pale, starchy-sweet choclo variety that thrives in the high valleys around Cusco became one of its most celebrated forms, eaten simply, without need for elaborate seasoning.
Pairing warm choclo with queso fresco is an everyday combination found at market stalls, roadside stands and family tables across the highlands, often alongside ceviche, anticuchos or simply on its own as a filling snack.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It turns two humble ingredients, sweet corn and salty fresh cheese, into a dish greater than the sum of its parts, and it shows how little Peruvian Andean cooking needs to taste extraordinary.
💡 Fun Fact
The giant white corn grown around Cusco has a protected designation of origin in Peru, recognising it as a distinct, prized variety separate from ordinary sweet corn.
Andean highlands of Peru, especially the Cusco region
-13.53°S, -71.97°W
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