Title: Quesadilla Cultural Fusion with Irish and German

L. Alexander, C. Genelin, M. Kammerlander, M. Semrau, K. Spencer

Introduction:
In recent years there has been a spike in the demand for convenient meals outside of the fast food
spectrum for college students. Research suggests that college students who eat fast foods, which
are typically high in trans-fat, have a decline in cognitive function, which may progress to
Alzheimers disease (Kotler 2005). College students who live on campus tend to eat more fast
food than students who live at home, with the majority of men eating fast food. This is mainly
due to financial limitations, students living at home tend to rely on family for food expenses and
have the opportunity to eat healthier, whereas students living on campus do not have the
resources or time to cook (Walid 2012).
Quesadillas are part of Mexican Cuisine, they consist of a tortilla that is folded in half. The
filling typically consists of meat and cheese and then is pan-fried. Many Mexican dishes include
tortillas, which are made from either corn or flour (Quesadilla 2015).
The Reuben is a cultural mash up by itself, with many people believing that the corned beef
makes it Irish, while the Thousand Island dressing has a Russian background, and the inventor
being a German immigrant who made the dish in New York City (Reuben 2011).
The purpose of this experiment was to mash up different culture cuisines and to provide a
convenient meal outside of fast food for college students and young people on the go. Our meal
comes ready to go with all the ingredients proportioned in one package, making it convenient to
buy and pan fry instead of searching for the ingredients all over the grocery store.
Materials and Methods:
Day 1:
Table 1 Broccoli, Chicken, and Alfredo Quesadilla
Ingredients
Butter
Broccoli (frozen)
Rotisserie Chicken
Alfredo Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)
10 inch Tortilla

Amount (g)
14.0
91.0
70.0
60.0
28.0
40.0

The broccoli, chicken, and alfredo sauce was mixed using 12 strokes in a 27cm diameter bowl. Next, 1/3 of
the mixture was spread on one side of 3 tortillas and sprinkled each 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Then, 1
tsp of butter was melted in a frying pan on medium/low heat prior to frying quesadillas. The remaining
tortilla shell was added on top of the mixture and transferred into the warm pan and cooked for 4 mins on
each side or until it looked golden brown and the cheese was melted.

Table 2 Spinach and Feta Quesadillas

Ingredients
Salted Butter
Onion
Fresh baby spinach
Crumbled feta cheese
Flour Tortillas
Sun dried tomatoes

Amounts (g)
14.0
110.0
45.0
56.0
120.0
165.0

One medium onion was sliced and combined with spinach and sun dried tomatoes using 12 strokes in a 27
cm diameter bowl. Next, 1/3 of the mixture was spread on one side of 3 tortillas and sprinkled with 1/3 of
the feta cheese. Then, 1 tsp of butter was melted in a frying pan on medium/low heat prior to frying
quesadillas. The remaining tortilla shell was added on top of the mixture and transferred into the warm pan
and cooked for 4 mins on each side or until it looked golden brown and the cheese was melted.
Table 3 Reuben Quesadillas
Ingredients
Salted Butter
Swiss Cheese
Corn Beef
Sauerkraut
Thousand Island Dressing
Flour Tortillas

Amounts (g)
14.0
162.0
672.0
106.0
24.0
120.0

Corned beef was chopped into bite sized pieces and warmed through in a fry pan for 2 mins. Next, corned
beef, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing were mixed using 12 strokes in a 27 cm diameter bowl.
Then, 1/3 of the mixture was spread on one side of 3 tortillas and sprinkled each with 1/3 of the Swiss
cheese. Then, 1 tsp of butter was melted in a frying pan on medium/low heat prior to frying quesadillas.
The remaining tortilla shell was added on top of the mixture and transferred into the warm pan and cooked
for 4 mins on each side or until it looked golden brown and the cheese was melted.
If some quesadillas were done before others, they were kept in an oven at 77 C to stay warm.

Day 2:
Table 4 Reuben Quesadillas
Control
Ingredients
Salted Butter
Swiss Cheese
Corn Beef
Sauerkraut
Thousand Island Dressing
Flour Tortillas

Treatments
Treatment 1

Treatment 2

Amounts (g)
8.0
54.0
111.0
35.0
25.0
40.0

8.0
64.0
111.0
35.0
25.0
40.0

8.0
54.0
111.0
35.0
35.0
40.0

One tsp of butter was melted in a fry pan on medium/low heat prior to frying quesadillas. The remaining
butter was spread on the quesadilla and put in the frying pan butter side down. The Thousand Island
Dressing was spread across the top of the quesadilla. Next, the corn beef was added evenly on top of the
Thousand Island Dressing then the sauerkraut and Swiss cheese were added. The remaining tortilla shell
with the butter spread evenly over the top was added and transferred into the warm pan and cooked for 4
mins on each side or until golden brown and the cheese was melted.
If some quesadillas were done before others, they were kept in an oven at 77 C to stay warm.
Day 3:
Table 5 Reuben Quesadillas
Ingredients
Salted Butter
Swiss Cheese
Corn Beef
Sauerkraut
Thousand Island Dressing
Flour Tortillas

Amounts (g)
8.0
64.0
111.0
55.0
35.0
40.0

Control: The Thousand Island Dressing was spread across the top of 1 quesadilla. Then the corn beef was
added evenly on top of the Thousand Island Dressing with the sauerkraut and Swiss cheese added next. The
remaining tortilla shell was added on top of all the ingredients and transferred onto a plate and put in the
microwave and cooked for 1 mins or until the cheese was melted and ingredients were heated through.

Treatment 1: One tsp of butter was melted in a fry pan on medium/low heat prior to frying quesadillas. The
remaining butter was spread on the quesadilla and put in frying pan butter side down. Next the Thousand
Island Dressing and sauerkraut were mixed in a small bowl. Then, the mixture was spread across the top of
the quesadilla. The corn beef was added evenly on top of the mixture then the Swiss cheese was added.
The remaining tortilla shell with the butter spread evenly over the top was added and transferred into the
warm pan and cooked for 4 mins on each side or until golden brown and cheese was melted.
Treatment 2: One tsp of butter was spread a quesadilla and put on the quesadilla maker butter side down.
Then the Thousand Island Dressing was spread across the top of the quesadilla. Next, the corn beef was
added evenly on top of the Thousand Island Dressing then the sauerkraut and Swiss cheese were added.
The remaining tortilla shell with the butter spread evenly over the top was added and the quesadilla maker
was shut for cooking. The quesadilla was cooked until the quesadilla maker beeped or until golden brown
and cheese was melted.
If some quesadillas were done before others, they were kept in an oven at 77 C to stay warm.
Subjective Evaluation:
Twelve sensory panelists evaluated 1/12 of each quesadilla treatment for appearance, flavor, and
texture using the nine point hedonic scale (Figure). The quesadillas were coded with random 3digit numbers (282, 339, and 755). Twelve plain, white, 30.5-cm diameter paper plates were
divided into three sections with the random 3-digit numbers assigned to each sample. There were
six different sensory evaluation forms that are balanced with equal numbers of sequences, each
sequence was used twice. Each panelist was provided with the samples that were warm out of the
oven, room temperature spring water, the sensory evaluation form, and a pencil. The sensory
occurred in the sensory lab that consisted of individual booths and white incandescent lighting.
The data collected was evaluated using SPSS (IBM 2012) with a One-way ANOVA and Tukey
Post Hoc test.

Results and Discussion:

Table 6 Sensory Evaluation a for Cultural Mash-Up Quesadillas Day 1
Treatment 1

Treatments
Treatment 2
Treatment 3

P Value

Characteristic
Texture
Flavor
Appearance
a
b

6.2
6.3
7.6

6.0
5.5
7.1

7.3
8.0
7.9

0.084
0.005b
0.254

Each value is an average score for 12 panelists

S=Significantly difference at p<=0.05

The sensory evaluation with the 3 different quesadilla recipes, Broccoli, Chicken, and Alfredo
(Treatment 1), Spinach and Feta (Treatment 2), and Reuben (Treatment 3) displayed no
significant difference in the texture and appearance of the products. The flavor was statistically
significant with a P Value of 0.005. This is because each quesadilla had significant variations of
ingredients for each treatment, which allowed for panelists to favor some ingredient
combinations more than others. The flavor combination that was favored most was treatment 3
(Table 6) which had the highest overall scores in every category. Due to these results, the
Reuben Quesadilla was chosen as our cultural mash-up product.
Table 7 Sensory Evaluation a for Reuben Quesadillas Day 2
Control

Treatments
Treatment 1
Treatment 2

P Value

Characteristic
Texture
Flavor
Appearance
a
b

7.1
7.1
8.0

6.6
6.3
5.9

7.0
6.8
7.5

0.626
0.544
0.001b

Each value is an average score for 12 panelists

S=Significantly difference at p<=0.05

The sensory evaluation with 3 Reuben quesadillas, the original Reuben Quesadilla from day 1
(Control), Reuben with additional Swiss cheese (Treatment 1), and Reuben with additional
thousand island dressing (Treatment 2) displayed no significant difference in texture and flavor.
The appearance was significantly significant with a P Value of 0.001. This is because although
the cooking methods were the same, Treatment 1 and 2 had increase ingredients that tended to
ooze out of the quesadilla which hampered the eating experience of the panelists. The evaluation
forms completed by the panelists reported this messy eating experience which is what we believe
lead to the statistical significance. These results prompted a change in cooking method for the 3rd
day to attempt to change the appearance of the products.

Table 8 Sensory Evaluation a for Reuben Quesadillas Day 3

Control

Treatments
Treatment 1
Treatment 2

P Value

Characteristic
Texture
Flavor
Appearance
a
b

6.0
6.8
4.3

7.2
7.3
7.1

7.3
6.4
7.5

0.154
0.292
0.000b

Each value is an average score for 12 panelists

S=Significantly difference at p<=0.05

The last sensory evaluation with 3 identical Reuben Quesadillas prepared with different cooking
methods, in the microwave (Control), pan fried with sauerkraut and dressing mixed (Treatment
1), and in a quesadilla maker (Treatment 2) displayed no significant difference in texture and
flavor. There was significant differences in the appearance with a P Value of 0.000. This is
because the cooking methods affected the visual appearance of the tortilla shell for each
treatment resulting in differences in browning and crispness. Due to these results and all previous
days results, the pan fried Reuben Quesadilla has been chosen as the final cultural mash-up
product. This product has been consistently favored for its golden brown and crisp appearance
as well as the flavor combination.
Conclusion:
Through a series of sensory evaluations for cultural quesadilla mash-ups over 3 days, panelists
tried many variations of quesadillas. On all 3 days statistical significance was found; day 1 flavor
was statistically significant, and on both day 2 and 3 appearance was statistically significant.
These findings lead to a pan fried Reuben Quesadilla as the final product.

Sensory Evaluation of Cultural Mash-Up

Quesadillas
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Date:____________________
Please give you opinion of the appearance, flavor, and texture of each sample of cultural mashup quesadillas. Drink water between each sample to cleanse your palate. Test the samples in the
order that is given below. For each sample, put the number of the phrase that best describes your
opinion of each characteristic in the appropriate box.
1 = Dislike extremely
2 = Dislike very much
3 = Dislike moderately
4 = Dislike slightly
5 = Neither like nor dislike
6 = Like slightly
7 = Like moderately
8 = Like very much
9 = Like extremely
Sample Code

Appearance

Flavor

Texture

282
339
755

Comments: Your comments about any or all of the samples are very helpful to us.

Which sample would be more likely to have another slice?

282

339

Figure: Sensory Evaluation for Quesadillas

755

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