Quesadilla

The quesadilla is a Mexican dish of a tortilla folded in half around a filling, most often cheese, which is cooked on a comal or fried until the cheese melts. Eaten hot, it is one of the best-known dishes of Mexican street food and is now served in restaurants around the world.

History

The name comes from Spanish: 'quesadilla' is a diminutive of 'quesada', a term for a dish or dessert built on cheese. Linguist José G. Moreno de Alba, who studied Mexican usage in the 1990s, noted that the word kept its link to cheese across much of the country, while in Mexico City that link weakened. The word is therefore Spanish in origin rather than Nahuatl, although the corn tortilla at its base has pre-Hispanic roots.

The dish took shape in colonial Mexico, when European cheese met the indigenous tortilla in mestizo cooking. Over time it diversified: corn tortillas remained dominant in the centre and south, while wheat flour tortillas became common in the north, often with cheeses such as Chihuahua or queso menonita. From those regions, and especially from the American Southwest, the quesadilla spread internationally, often in forms quite different from the original.

Culture

In most Mexican states, a quesadilla is defined by cheese as its essential ingredient, to which meats such as carne asada, shrimp, ham or chicharrón may be added, usually served with salsas, guacamole, onion or lettuce. In Mexico City, by contrast, cheese is optional, and versions with squash blossom, huitlacoche or brains are common. Much of the capital's street quesadilla is made from raw masa that is folded and fried, a method that brings it closer to an empanada.

In the northwest, breaded seafood quesadillas in the Ensenada style and Sinaloa's taco gobernador reflect the region's fishing traditions. In the north, corn tortillas toasted flat without folding go by names such as vampiros, volcanes or chorreadas. In the United States, the wheat tortilla version with Monterey Jack or Cheddar belongs to Southwestern cooking, and it has inspired variants such as breakfast and dessert quesadillas.

Trivia