Food, Home & Lifestyle
Quesadillas Doradas | Golden Quesadillas
Lesson time 21:31 min
Mexico City’s take on the quesadilla is usually cheeseless, masa-based, and fried. Gabriela demonstrates how to make quesadillas doradas and introduces you to huitlacoche, a kind of corn fungus that is sometimes referred to as the Mexican truffle.
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Topics include: Prepping the Huitlacoche · Pressing, Filling & Frying the Quesadillas
Teaches Mexican Cooking
Celebrated chef Gabriela Cámara shares her approach to making Mexican food that brings people together: simple ingredients, exceptional care.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] - What we're going to make now is a deep-fried quesadilla. It's a very typical Mexico City street food or sort of informal appetizer. But it's part of what you would call in Mexico "antojitos." Antojitos literally translated are little cravings. It's a diminutive for cravings. You know, usually it's very tasty, many times fried, always savory, food that can be used, you know, for snacking, for appetizers, for bar food, sort of as a little tentempié, which is-- a tentempié is something to snack on before you have a proper meal. But fried quesadillas are made with different fillings in different parts of the country. And in Mexico City, it is very much a street food. You know, people have their stand. They have a big pot of oil. We have our oil here. It's heating up. And in general, when I say quesadilla, you think of a flour tortilla with melted cheese. And yes, quesadilla come from "queso"-- cheese. The word comes from something filled with cheese. However, in Mexico City, quesadilla is a word that we use for anything, even if it doesn't have cheese, sort of inside a tortilla. And it's any folded tortilla. In Mexico City, we mostly have corn tortillas. I'm going to show you a quesadilla that does not include cheese. And I'm going to show you how to make a very delicious and special filling with a version of corn. [MUSIC PLAYING] We are going to use our masa to make a tortilla. And we're going to put a filling inside. And we're going to deep fry it. You will see how that is made in a little bit. But the main ingredient in our filling is going to be huitlacoche. This is a fungus. This is a fungus, but it's a delicacy. It's considered the Mexican truffle. Another very popular filling for quesadillas which don't include cheese are all different mushrooms. And huitlacoche it is a type of a mushroom. But it's particular of the corn. And it's a kernel that is defective. But it's a defect that we look for because the taste is incredible. It has an earthy, very mild flavor. It's very precious to have huitlacoche. And it's something that we look forward to having. It sort of like the truffle period in Europe. It's been for centuries something that in Mexican cuisine has been really appreciated. So I'm going to cut this off. Some varietals are more prone to getting this fungus than others. I have seen huitlacoche in California. I don't know how common it is in other parts of the United States. You can find it canned. And the one that you find canned usually has already been prepared in a similar way to what we're going to do with it. I'm going to leave the cob there. So we're going to start off by putting a little bit of grapeseed oil. I like grapeseed oil just because it has a higher smoke point. But you could use olive oil. The thing is that you really have to make sure it doesn't burn. Because if it burns, you get this bitterness. And especially with huitlacoche, which is so delicate, you do...
About the Instructor
A “star of modern Mexican cuisine,” Gabriela Cámara brings her local, sustainable twist to time-honored traditions. Now the chef of Contramar shares the richness of her culture through the art of food. Learn step-by-step recipes—for dishes of her own design, like tuna tostadas, and staples like tacos al pastor, salsa, and tortillas—and delight loved ones with your own delicious renditions of Mexican favorites.
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Gabriela Cámara
Celebrated chef Gabriela Cámara shares her approach to making Mexican food that brings people together: simple ingredients, exceptional care.
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