TORTILLA
A thin pancake made of cornmeal - an important item of the diet in Latin American countries. It was named by the Spanish conquistadors: in Spanish cookery, a tortilla is a flat omelette, usually filled with sald cod or potatoes, which is cut into quarters like a cake( the word has the same origin as torta, a tart).
Cornmeal has been used since time immemorial for preparing pancakes, which are traditionally grilled on earthenware utensils. They are used as bread or as a tart bases and are stuffed for turnovers and sandwiches. The old indian method of preparing consists of kneading the cornmeal dough, or masa, on a stone called a metate, then shaping it into circles about 20cm(8in) in diameter and 3mm(1/2in) thick, which is quite a delicate operation. Nowadays, tortillerias provide ready- made tortillas, which can be bought cooked or uncooked. Grilled tortillas, lightly browned, have a thin but tough crust on each side. They can also be puffed up like souffle potatoes, then stuffed. Tortillas are always eaten hot, either on their own( as bread) or filled with various ingredients, usually witha piquant sauce.
The range of condiments and stuffings used include guacamole ( avacado puree with red pepper), chopped raw onion, green tomato coulis, grated queso( cheese), thin strips of chicken breast, etc. The main dish prepared with tortillas are tacos( a very popular sandwich), echiladas( tortillas rolled around their filling- fried sausages or pieces of chicken - then coated with a sauce and cooked in a oven), tostadas( small very crisp tortillas, covered with fried or sauteed red kidney beans and sometimes embellished with chopped meat, served as a hot hors d'oeuvre), chilaquiles(thin strips of fried tortillas covered with highly spiced sauce and cooked in the oven), and quesadillas( tortillas filled with meat in sauce or vegetable with cheese, folded to turnovers, then fried in lard).
The tortillas even forms part of the Mexican breakfast, which basically consists of huevos rancheros: fried eggs arranged on fried tortillas and garnished with tomatoes crushed with red pepper and slices of avacado. At lunch, the soup is sometimes thickened with small pieces of tortilla. Sopa seca is a dish consisting of pieces of tortilla generously coated with sauce and served piping hot. Equally popular are sopes - tortillas filled with meat, beans and highly spiced sauce. Among the specialities, mention should be made of the papatzul( literally, food of lords): tortillas stuffed with pieces of pork or hard - boiled eggs, served with a sauce made from ground pumpkin seeds, tomato puree, and pumpkin - seed oil. In Venezula, cornmeal pancakes are found in form of arepas. These are thicker than tortillas and are often raw in the middle , even after the cooking . BUtter, eggs, spices or fried maize(corn( grains are sometimes added to the dough.
HAPPY TORTILLAS !
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Cornmeal has been used since time immemorial for preparing pancakes, which are traditionally grilled on earthenware utensils. They are used as bread or as a tart bases and are stuffed for turnovers and sandwiches. The old indian method of preparing consists of kneading the cornmeal dough, or masa, on a stone called a metate, then shaping it into circles about 20cm(8in) in diameter and 3mm(1/2in) thick, which is quite a delicate operation. Nowadays, tortillerias provide ready- made tortillas, which can be bought cooked or uncooked. Grilled tortillas, lightly browned, have a thin but tough crust on each side. They can also be puffed up like souffle potatoes, then stuffed. Tortillas are always eaten hot, either on their own( as bread) or filled with various ingredients, usually witha piquant sauce.
1 comment:
Hi thanks for shaaring this
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