Mexico: The Great Quesadilla Debate
Hola and welcome back Kryddhyllan friends! The Swedish darkness has descended upon us at an alarming rate, and as travel to faraway destinations becomes but a distant memory, we’re left facing the prospect of a long winter at home, burrowed under blankets and scrolling mindlessly through Netflix. Which is exactly why we were so excited to meet up with this week’s guest Victor, who saved us from the darkness by taking us on a delicious flavor trip to the beautiful and vibrant country of Mexico!
We’ll go ahead and assume that most people have tried Mexican food, or at least a take on Mexican food. Sweden even has “taco Friday”, where loved ones get together to eat a slightly soggy, overstuffed variation of a taco that would probably make the entire population of Mexico shed tears of dismay. And if you were to ask people what dishes spring to mind when it comes to Mexico, most would probably say something along the lines of: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, guacamole, and margaritas (which, fun fact, were actually invented by the daughter of a German ambassador who had travelled to Mexico). But with 31 diverse states, each with their own dishes and ways of preparing them, there is a whole galaxy of Mexican cuisine beyond the “mainstream” eats – with dishes like pozole, tamales, birria, and chiles en nogada simply ready and waiting to be explored. Warning: don’t google if you’re not ready to fall down a rabbit hole of food porn.
In our case, we had the pleasure of trying a dish that is, according to Victor, known as THE ultimate hangover food: chilaquiles. This breakfast staple traditionally made from humble leftovers is one of the most iconic breakfast foods to be found in Mexico and has everything you could ever want and more in a savory breakfast, whether you’re nursing a hangover or not. Featuring crisp tortilla triangles, tangy salsa verde, crema fresca, cheese, avocado and a fried egg if you’re feeling crazy, there’s just something magical about this heaping mishmash of deliciousness that feels like it would relieve any throbbing head after a hard night of pounding tequila. Just in time for the weekend too! Read on to find out how you can salvage your Sunday with this easy, mouth-watering recipe!
Chilaquiles
Enjoy with: The mention of Corona has taken on an entirely different meaning, but the light lager works wonders with Mexican food. Sol is a very similar beer to enjoy if you’re Corona’ed out. We enjoyed it with a drink made from Tequila (make sure to get the 100% agave one, because the other stuff is trash) and grapefruit tonic and some lime, simple but oh-so-refreshing with this quite dense meal. If alcohol is not your thing, we suggest washing this wonderful dish down with some Horchata, a delicious kind of sweet rice milk beverage very popular in the central Americas.
Listen to: We had the honour of listening to a pre-curated playlist of Mexico’s more traditional and modern music. You can find it here on Spotify
Ingredients
(serves 4 people)
Sauce:
1 bunch of fresh cilantro (half for cooking, half to garnish)
2 cloves garlic
2 green jalapeños
1 can (28 oz) green tomatillos
1 red onion
½ fresh lime juice
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Other ingredients:
2 packs of canned black beans (total about 500g)
50g lard (for cooking)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp vinegar (we used white wine vinegar)
2 avocados
Salt and pepper
1 large bag Tortilla chips
2 dl sour cream
1 packet of feta cheese
1 egg per serving (optional)
1 red onion
Instructions:
Put a skillet on medium-high heat and add the jalapeños straight in (that’s right, no chopping, and no adding oil to the pan, because we want those bad boys to ROAST
Peel the garlic cloves and add in, and chop the red onion in half and add in. Flip the veggies over once they have almost a black colour on each side.
Once veggies are cooked, take out the onion and garlic and remove any peel left, and throw into a blender
Take out the jalapeno from the pan and cut off the stem, and remove seeds to your liking (the more seeds left the spicier the sauce)
Add all the veggies, tomatillos (leave some of the liquid in the can to add later if you want a more liquid sauce), half of the coriander, salt, pepper and lime and mix until it becomes a slightly chunky sauce. Set aside
Add the lard in a large pot and turn to medium heat.
Rinse the beans and add into the pot once the lard has melted. Mix the beans using a hand held blender and add in the parsley and onion powder.
Lower the heat and stir now and then, just to make sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. Once it starts to slightly simmer, turn off the heat.
Putting it all together:
Fry the eggs over easy (or as you please), slice the avocados, thinly slice the onion, crumble the feta cheese, and chop the rest of the cilantro and place on the table or side table for self serve
To create the perfect chilaquiles, start with a base layer of beans, add tortilla chips, pour over a generous serving of the green sauce, add avocado, cheese, onion, cilantro and cream cheese on top. Finish with a fried egg for the full experience
Easy peasy! Enjoy!
Interview Time
After our delicious meal, we sat (in our chilaquiles-induced food coma) down with Victor to discuss everything from what brought him to Sweden, to his unexpected appreciation for a certain smelly Swedish delicacy, and why quesadillas by way of their name MUST contain cheese (unless you’re in Mexico City, where you can order a quesadilla without cheese… yeah, more on that later). Read on!
Kryddhyllan: Hi Victor!
Victor: Hello!
Kryddhyllan: So, the first question is… what is your favorite food from home, and why?
Victor: I think my favorite food from home is something we call campechanos, which is like this big taco with cheese, guacamole, pork and beef meat all mixed together.
Kryddhyllan: Wait a sec, earlier you said that it has to be called a quesadilla if it’s with cheese?
Victor: Yeah, but it’s like the whole thing as well. Because it also has guacamole – that’s why it’s called a campechano.
Kryddhyllan: So, what percentage of cheese does it need to contain to qualify as a quesadilla? Is it 50% or above?
Victor: It is always a quesadilla – the presence of cheese makes it a quesadilla automatically.
Kryddhyllan: But we just proved that it doesn’t?
Victor: No but the thing is -
Kryddhyllan: There’s inconsistencies, tell us the truth!
Victor: Hear me out – you don’t HAVE to have the cheese in a campechano, this one is simply a campechano, with cheese.
Kryddhyllan: Ok, fair.
Victor: I just like it with the cheese. It’s like an extra.
Kryddhyllan: But could you say “campechano quesadilla”?
Victor: Yeah you can, it depends on which part of Mexico you’re in. It’s very contradictory.
Kryddhyllan: So many rules.
Victor: For example, in Mexico City, you can order a quesadilla without cheese.
Kryddhyllan: WHAT?
Victor: Yeah, I know it doesn’t make sense. There’s a big debate on the Internet, all of Mexico against Mexico City about why it’s possible to order a quesadilla without cheese. There are many BS explanations, we don’t really know what’s true anymore. I personally think that a quesadilla should have cheese, but people in Mexico City order quesadillas without cheese.
Kryddhyllan: So… what do they put in it then? Is it just bread?
Victor: It’s just tortillas with meat and stuff.
Kryddhyllan: Okay, so then it’s a taco?!
Victor: It’s a paradox!
Kryddhyllan: Mexico City is a bit like Stockholm.
Victor: Yes, exactly.
Kryddhyllan: This debate is to be continued. But going back, why are campechanos your favorite food?
Victor: Because it has the best things, the best two meats. The pork meat, which is called al pastor, it’s this marinated pork meat in achiote which is a type of chili, and we cook it like a kebab. And the beef, because I love beef. You fry the beef like a steak, and it’s so good. Then there’s the cheese, and the guacamole, plus the salsa and coriander and onions and it becomes a monster and it’s amazing.
Kryddhyllan: The whole package for a food coma.
Victor: You eat two and you’re good to go.
Kryddhyllan: To bed! And what brought you to Sweden?
Victor: I came to study my Master’s at KTH.
Kryddhyllan: But why Sweden?
Victor: I wanted to study a Master in sustainability, and I was between KTH and the Technical University of Munich, which were the top in Europe, and I didn’t want to go to the U.S. because I hate the U.S., and I had already lived in Germany. I thought Swedes were more fun, and yeah…
Kryddhyllan: Shout out!
Victor: Yeah. That’s my honest answer. I really like Berlin a lot though, but the problem is that as an engineer, there’s not a lot of work. All the engineering places in Germany are in Munich or Stuttgart.
Kryddhyllan: Then it was Sweden by default. Good choice!
Victor: Very good choice, I can’t complain.
Kryddhyllan: What did you know about Swedish food before coming here?
Victor: A lot actually! I had a Swedish neighbor back at home, and he used to make kanelbullar all the time.
Kryddhyllan: That’s ambitious.
Victor: Yeah, and we would also go to IKEA all the time to eat Swedish meatballs. We went with my cousins because they live really close to this IKEA, and I remember a long time ago I was maybe 16, he was like “do you wanna try Swedish food?” and I was thinking “what’s that?” And we went to IKEA and we got meatballs.
Kryddhyllan: It’s funny how IKEA, a furniture company, has become one of the largest food ambassadors in the world for Sweden. The meatballs aren’t even that good… they’re quite dry. But if you’ve never had them, they can be like a portal, a gateway ball to the real stuff. But what you do think is the best and worst thing about Swedish food?
Victor: I really like the seafood, the way you eat salmon for example – gravad lax is not common in Mexico. I think it’s very characteristic of Sweden, how you have the potatoes and the dill, the use of dill in dishes feels so Swedish and it’s so good, I love it. Maybe the thing I like the most. Hmm, I dunno what I don’t like about Swedish food, I don’t think I have any complaints actually.
Kryddhyllan: Are you sure?
Victor: Maybe, I guess every Swedish dish I’ve tried I’m liked so no, I can’t complain.
Kryddhyllan: Nothing?
Victor: No. I even like surströmming.
Kryddhyllan: You’re probably the first to ever say that on the blog.
Victor: It smells bad, but it tastes good!
Kryddhyllan: No but you’re probably the first who’s never said anything negative about Swedish food.
Victor: No, it’s not bad it’s just different! It’s a lot of meat, a lot of potatoes and if you like meat and potatoes then it’s fine. The number of things you can do with potatoes is amazing, and in Mexico we don’t use potatoes that much. I love these balls of potato with flour and meat inside…
Kryddhyllan: Kroppkakor?
Victor: Yes! I love them. I think they are super good.
Kryddhyllan: It’s so interesting that potatoes aren’t popular in Mexico.
Victor: Yeah, it’s because potatoes don’t grow that much in Mexico. I like potatoes a lot. Even sweet potatoes, I think you eat them more in Sweden than in Mexico. If you think of a typical Mexican dish there usually aren’t any potatoes, but they’re so good. I even think that Swedish chips are the best in the world. Potato chips.
Kryddhyllan: Agreed. They’re amazing. Dill potato chips!
Victor: I had to explain to my friends. Yes, dill! I love the chips in the fancy brown package, they’re amazing. They’re not super thin, they’re a bit thicker, and they taste more like potato than fried. Honestly, dill is one of the best discoveries I made when moving here.
Kryddhyllan: Dill is a great herb. But if you had to pick one food to eat for the rest of your life what would it be and why?
Victor: I think… I think chilaquiles is a good alternative, because it has a lot of things, and you can separate them, and then it becomes four different dishes in one.
Kryddhyllan: Deconstructed, so trendy right now.
Victor: You can just separate them, and as long as you change the toppings, it can become something different every time. So they are very flexible.
Kryddhyllan: Agreed. Maybe it’s our new food for life. What about spices, if you could only use one spice or herb or flavoring for the rest of your life what would it be?
Victor: I think… that flavor of the green tomatoes, it’s very characteristic. Or there’s a thing called chili ancho, it’s a chili that has the same consistency, it’s sweet and sour depending on what you mix it with. You can make sauces, soup, it’s very flexible in the Mexican kitchen because its flavor is based on what you mix it with. You can eat it dried, or fresh. Fresh, it’s very spicy but if you let it dry it becomes sweet.
Kryddhyllan: Can you get it in Sweden?
Victor: Yes! You can get it at ICA Liljeholmen. It’s dried and called chili ancho in Spanish.
Kryddhyllan: We have to try it. Ok, next question, what is the best meal that you’ve ever had?
Victor: There’s a thing called Tlayuda in Southern Mexico, which is like a huge taco -
Kryddhyllan: So it’s a burrito?
Victor: No! Yes, and no. It gets its name from the ingredients it has inside, which is beans, salad, meat, cheese. It’s eaten cold. I was on a surfing beach called Puerto Escondido, it’s super hippie, and I was looking for a place to eat. But every restaurant was super full, but then I saw a super small alley next to a 7/11 and there I saw an old woman with a super small box and some ingredients, and there were a lot of people so I wanted to see what they were eating. And so, I asked them and they said “Tlayuda” and so I ordered one, it was huge and maybe the equivalent of 20 crowns, and it was just perfect, the best thing I ever had in my life. The perfect amount of sauce which was amazing, the beans, I don’t know what she used, but it was so good, the salad and the pulled pork had this crazy amazing sauce (maybe it was achote), the cheese was like goat cheese but something homemade. It was a bit runnier, but everything was homemade. They had a small farm and now they’ve since opened their own restaurant because it went so well for them. I remember it so well – it was at night and I had been surfing and smoking all day. So I was really hungry, I was desperate. There are a lot of restaurants by the beach, and I was just walking around and saw this place, it just had a small plastic table and all the ingredients laid out. She was this old lady with all her grandchildren, and they didn’t even have a sign. You just saw the people. It was amazing. I went back two years later, and they had a restaurant that was run by the daughter, while the grandma was in the back still cooking the food.
Kryddhyllan: That’s amazing. Good for her! Last question is what is your favorite restaurant at the moment? It can be anywhere in the world, but it’s corona so I guess…
Victor: I mean, I’m between Meno Male and La Neta. I think La Neta is more my favorite because it’s exactly like home. The campechanos there are just like the ones at home. La Neta in Södermalm is my favorite because of the setup, it looks just like at home. They have the same chairs, the same music, the same things that a taco place in Mexico would have. When I go there, I feel like home. When you go they have these two clocks, Stockholm and Monterrey, and that’s the city where I studied so it’s super nice. Also, the owner is a friend of mine, so I always get free beer. So yeah. Still my favorite place!
Kryddhyllan: Oh wow, that was the last question! Good job. You passed.
Victor: Nice!
