Flor de Calabaza – Cooking in Mexico

Another Sunday Market in La Cruz and another bunch of squash blossoms too beautiful to eat. I could have looked at their vase on the kitchen counter all week, but eat them we did when I made squash blossom quesadillas for lunch, using fresh corn tortillas, queso fresco from the Sunday market, poblano chile strips and epazote leaves.

Squash — calabaza — were cultivated in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, and then spread throughout the world with the arrival of the Spanish. Classic Mesoamerican clay pots mimic large squash in design, and are still seen in contemporary Mexican art work. We have a beautiful copper pot from Santa Clara del Cobre, hammered into a calabaza form.

Before chopping up the flowers, I inhaled their aroma. They smelled of squash, pumpkin and earth, like a garden. The colorful flowers add a delicate flavor that is easily overpowered, so go light on the onion and garlic. Use whatever cheese you have on hand, but the classic cheese for quesadillas is string cheese from Oaxaca. Today I used fresh cheese from the market, but other possibilities include Muenster, Monterey Jack, or even cheddar.

Squash Blossom Quesadillas

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small bunches squash blossoms, all but 1″of stem removed, chopped; enough to measure 2 cups
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste
1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled and cut into strips
6 oz. cheese, thinly sliced
8 epazote leaves (optional)
8 corn tortillas

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. When hot, add onion and cook for 3 minutes, or until translucent.
Add squash blossoms and garlic, and cook until blossoms are wilted.
Remove from heat and salt to taste.
Heat an oiled griddle over medium heat. Place four tortillas on griddle and evenly divide squash blossom mixture among them. Add strips of poblano chile, thinly sliced cheese, and two epazote leaves to each quesadilla. Cover each one with a second tortilla.
Cook about 3 minutes per side, or until brown, toasty spots appear on the tortillas and the cheese melts.
Cut into halves or quarters and serve hot. (Cold left-overs are delicious.)

Notes:

North of the border, flour tortillas are often used for quesadillas, but corn tortillas are more common in Mexico.

This may be heresy to a Mexican cook, but building quesadillas in my kitchen is like making a sandwich: anything goes. I have made great quesadillas with left-over brown rice, steamed greens, a bit of steak from last night’s dinner, whatever cheese is on hand, even cottage cheese.

Epazote (Teloxys ambrosioides), also known as Mexican Tea or Wormseed, is a bitter herb used to season black beans, quesadillas and empanadas. A few months ago, I found it in a Mexican market in Minneapolis, and I hear it is becoming more common in U.S. supermarkets that cater to a Hispanic clientele. A native of Mexico, it is not eaten raw, and may be an acquired taste. There is no substitute.

A bit of etymology: calabaza is from the Persian word kharbuz, meaning melon, and the French word calabase, later calabash, is of Spanish origin.

A Classic Mexican Recipe

Easy Recipe for Mexican quesadillas with

squash blossoms — flor de calabaza– and poblano chile

The other day at the grocery store I saw the freshest squash blossom flowers, known in Spanish as Flor de Calabaza. I bought a small bunch of the golden blooms, remembering that the classic treatment in Mexico for squash blossoms is as a filling in quesadillas. Quesadillas are flour or corn tortillas with a variety of fillings, including cheese, usually Oaxaca String Cheese. Squash blossom quesadillas are one of Mexico’s gift to the world.

This is another dish for which it is hard to give a recipe. It’s as easy as making a sandwich, and, indeed, this could be called one of the sandwiches of Mexico. Here is the simple recipe: take two tortillas, top one with sautéed vegetables, then with thinly sliced or grated cheese. Place the second tortilla on top, and cook in a hot pan until the cheese is melted. That’s it.

I often make quesadillas using left-over vegetables from dinner the day before — creamed spinach, steamed beet greens, sautéed yellow squash with onion. The vegetable list is endless. The cheese list is close to endless. While the true Mexicano may blanch, there’s no reason that Swiss cheese or cheddar, or any cheese you have on hand, could not be used. When I’m in a quesadilla mood, I have been known to rummage through the fridge, pulling out left-over brown rice, shredded roast chicken breast, fresh spinach leaves, sliced mushrooms. Quesadillas are a good thing to make when you clean out the fridge, akin to making clean-the-fridge soup. If you use squash blossoms, keep in mind that they have a delicate flavor that is easily overwhelmed by more strongly flavored ingredients. For squash blossom quesadillas, the ingredient list is short.

Squash blossoms are common in Mexican markets in the interior of the country, although I don’t see them very often in the coastal area where I live. One day, a man came to our gate selling a bag of beautiful, fresh blossoms. The bag was the size of a small pillow, and I bought all he had for about three dollars. It was a culinary treasure, to be enjoyed in quesadillas, scrambled eggs and stuffed with cheese. The flower color varies from bright yellow to pumpkin orange. If I could bear not to eat them all, they would make an interesting floral arrangement in a vase on the kitchen counter. I’ll have to buy extra next time, just to enjoy them visually.

Squash Blossom Quesadillas

A handful of squash blossoms, de-stemmed and chopped

Sliced onion

Minced garlic

Roasted poblano chiles, cut into strips

Sliced Oaxaca cheese

Corn or flour tortillas

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Roast poblano chiles and cut into strips. (Refer to my past post Chiles en Nogada if you need a refresher course on how to roast chiles.) Set aside.

In Mexico, strips of roasted poblano chiles cooked with onion are called rajas.

Sauté chopped squash blossoms with some sliced onion and minced garlic in a bit of olive oil.

Lightly oil a griddle with vegetable oil and heat until medium hot. Place tortillas on griddle; divide squash blossoms, poblano strips and cheese among tortillas.

Top each quesadilla with another tortilla and cook until cheese is melted and tortillas begin to have brown, toasty spots. Cut in halves or quarters, garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with fresh salsa. You may want to enjoy your squash blossom quesadillas with a cold, Mexican beer, such as Pacifico or Corona.