Quesadillas are a popular Mexican turnover filled with cheese, traditionally made with masa dough and served with guacamole and sour cream. The dish has evolved to include various fillings such as chicken, beef, seafood, and vegetables. The Salvadoran version is a dessert made with butter, eggs, flour, milk, parmesan, sour cream, and sugar.
A quesadilla (kay-suh-dee-yuh) is a popular savory Mexican turnover, stuffed with cheese filling. The turnover is grilled or fried, using flour or a corn tortilla. Served with guacamole and sour cream, this simple matzoh-based turnover remains a favorite snack of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine.
The real quesadilla is made with masa dough. Masa is made from white corn (white corn) which is dried and cured with lime water, after which it is ground into a fine cornmeal. This foundation was passed down from the Mayans, Aztecs, and some other advanced cultures of the prehistoric Americas.
The purist prepares the quesadilla as a turnover and differentiates it from the sincronizada, which is made with two flour tortillas with cheese sandwiched in between. Traditionally, Chihuahua cheese is used, which is a white, mild Mexican cheese similar to a Monterey Jack. Chihuahua cheese was first made by Mennonite communities in the Northern Mexico region and is also referred to as queso menonita.
In the 15th century, when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the New World, the thin portable flatbread cake was already a perfect food for the Mesoamerican people. The Spanish gave the name quesadilla (little cheesy things) to the delicious dish.
As the Spanish flu infiltrated the New World, other ingredients such as chicken, beef, turkey, seafood, and vegetables were added to the cheese quesadilla. The quesadilla evolved into a blend of Old and New World traditions.
The further south you go, the more complex the quesadilla. Variants use potatoes and chorizo (pork sausage), Oaxaca cheese (white Mexican cheese with a string-like structure similar to mozzarella), mild to hot chiles, epazote (herb with a pungent flavor similar to a strong anise , fennel or tarragon), sautéed flor de calabaza (zucchini blossoms) or huitlachoche (a ragweed mushroom delicacy that grows on cornflowers).
The Salvadoran quesadilla is very different from familiar Mexican fare in that it uses heavier, denser bread and is served as a dessert with coffee. It’s more like a mixture of butter, eggs, flour, milk, parmesan, sour cream and sugar. The ingredients are cooked in a shallow pan for 30 minutes. This savory dish is most common in the Guatemala region and southern Mexico.
Whether you prefer the original and simple cheese quesadilla, the heartier complexities of meaty Spanish dishes, or choose to build your own creation with fillings like ham, burger, sausage, mushroom, refried beans, scrambled egg or salsa, you’ll be enjoying a delightful piece of history.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
