The history of the tortilla can be traced back for more than 9000 years. Anthropologists have discovered remains that suggest the people perhaps along the Rio Balsas in Guerrero developed corn from a weed called teosintle. Corn became the foundation of the indigenous civilizations in the Americas.
An Olmec Tortilla
In the early 1500’s Spanish when the conquistadors encountered the Aztec Empiire tortillas already had 8500 years of history. They saw that Mexican Aztecs made flat corn breads, which constituted the main ingredient of their diets. The corn patties added a starch, protein and served as their main source of energy. The Spanish named these breads tortillas (little cakes). The Aztecs grew maize, harvested the corn cobs, dried them, removed the grains, cooked them with limestone, and then ground them into corn meal, turing the mixture into dough or masa. They would then take a small ball of the masa, pad and press it into a circle about six to eight inches in diameter and place it on a clay plate or comal to cook.. For the next four centuries, the Spanish, followed this method for making tortillas.
Corn is a sacred food in Mexico like rice in Japan. In fact gohan, the word for rice in Japan, is a synonym for the word food. For most Mexicans the taste of corn is the ultimate grain of truth. There is a dull sweet unforgettable aroma that fills the air when tortillas are cooking on the comal. Even the tortillerias that make a commercial version of the tortilla send out that aroma and like garlic and olive oil simmering to an italian noses tortillas cooking tickle the mexican sense of smell.
A tortilla is round. I think that any dough shaped by the human hand would naturally tend to come out round. A pizza, for instance tends to roundness when spun.To turn corn masa or wheat dough into a rectangle they must be placed on a table and pulled into something with 90° corners. One cannot spin or pad a rectangle with your hands.
Pure corn tortillas don't rise like wheat flour with added yeast so when wheat dough is added to a rectangular mold, like a bread pan, the dough fills up all the corners as it rises into a three dimensional form. It conforms to the receptacle.
The tortillera, or the simple hand operated press that makes tortillas, turns a blop of corn dough into something flat and round. If dough is not restricted by borders the propensity is circular. It's a natural tendency.
Another characteristic of the Tortilla is impermeability. Tortillas are more resistant to liquids than wheat bread. Bread is very absorbent. When folded tortillas drip their contents from the open ends unless tucked in. Bread just sucks up all the juices like a sponge. You can put some wet mixtures into a tortilla and it does not come apart. If you put those same sloppies onto a piece of bread and don't eat it soon it will melt into mush. Every wrap has its limitations. I just want to point out what those limitations are. Therefore when munching into a taco the consistency and taste of the tortilla is a separate but concurrent experience with the wetter filling. The ingredients retain their physical characteristics during mastication. Bread melts as its physical consistency blends more with whatever it is sopping up. Sandwiches for sure allow bread to be bread and that is one of the few of wheat's glories. However sandwiches tend to be drier than tacos. When you bite into a sandwich, the taste of bread and its consistency combine for a bit in your mouth each still an entity yet beginning to meld with saliva and enzymes. That's a tortilla all the time.
Know what you are eating:
Let's get geometric for a moment. Circles are fountains of information. All circles inherently contain the information to form other geometreic shapes. Within the essence of a circle there are many hidden worlds. It contains an infinite number of geometric recipes in its genes. It is a circle but it is also a polygon, various polyhedra, and a bundle of mathematical functions. No other geometric shape functions in this way. This is much like a stem cell that is both an individual cell and yet holds all information for all other cell functions. The secrets of the circle can be revealed through folding.
Folding a tortilla or circle you could form a wide range of geometric figures. But where do you put the food in the last few?
Back to the tortilla: Tortillas should be served right off the comal. They taste best when fresh. A tortilla can be made on a comal in individual portions very rapidly, something that cannot be accomplished with wheat bread. Wheat bread needs to rise and spend time in the oven. Therefore, if the incredibly wide range of mexican fillings are already prepared the time between your order and the moment it reaches your mouth is minimal. By the time you finish saying "Gimme two tacos suaves", someone is forcing a fresh tortilla into your mouth. When a tortilla is folded once it becomes a semi circle. That semicircle can be filled with just about anything. Meats, insects, onions, greens, cheeses, herbs, fruits, rice, beans, caviar, eggs, fish, and avocado.
The form that the tortilla takes, its impervious nature, and its "good" fast food quality are three qualities that have affected the look and preparation of mexican dishes.
Shape: Tortillas folded into semi circles, or rolled into tubes stuffed and garnished make any plate instantly reconizable as mexican.
Impermiabiliy: allows you to walk about on the street and munch while you hold your edible receptacle without the worry of it falling apart in your hands.
Toast a tortilla and you get a tostada that can be heaped with a world of flavors or eaten as is with some salt like a mexican cracker. A tostada could also be used as a weapon if broken to reveal a jagged edge. It might make a great mexican mystery. The Pit And The Tostada.
Speaking of edges: make a thick tortilla and pinch an edge onto the rim, cook it and dress it and you have a sope.
Preparation time: The fact that a tortilla can be prepared in minutes and ready made fillings lathered or heaped on makes all those street vendors here possible.
A tortilla is round. I think that any dough shaped by the human hand would naturally tend to come out round. A pizza, for instance tends to roundness when spun.To turn corn masa or wheat dough into a rectangle they must be placed on a table and pulled into something with 90° corners. One cannot spin or pad a rectangle with your hands.
Pure corn tortillas don't rise like wheat flour with added yeast so when wheat dough is added to a rectangular mold, like a bread pan, the dough fills up all the corners as it rises into a three dimensional form. It conforms to the receptacle.
The tortillera, or the simple hand operated press that makes tortillas, turns a blop of corn dough into something flat and round. If dough is not restricted by borders the propensity is circular. It's a natural tendency.
Hand Operated Tortillera
Another characteristic of the Tortilla is impermeability. Tortillas are more resistant to liquids than wheat bread. Bread is very absorbent. When folded tortillas drip their contents from the open ends unless tucked in. Bread just sucks up all the juices like a sponge. You can put some wet mixtures into a tortilla and it does not come apart. If you put those same sloppies onto a piece of bread and don't eat it soon it will melt into mush. Every wrap has its limitations. I just want to point out what those limitations are. Therefore when munching into a taco the consistency and taste of the tortilla is a separate but concurrent experience with the wetter filling. The ingredients retain their physical characteristics during mastication. Bread melts as its physical consistency blends more with whatever it is sopping up. Sandwiches for sure allow bread to be bread and that is one of the few of wheat's glories. However sandwiches tend to be drier than tacos. When you bite into a sandwich, the taste of bread and its consistency combine for a bit in your mouth each still an entity yet beginning to meld with saliva and enzymes. That's a tortilla all the time.
Know what you are eating:
Let's get geometric for a moment. Circles are fountains of information. All circles inherently contain the information to form other geometreic shapes. Within the essence of a circle there are many hidden worlds. It contains an infinite number of geometric recipes in its genes. It is a circle but it is also a polygon, various polyhedra, and a bundle of mathematical functions. No other geometric shape functions in this way. This is much like a stem cell that is both an individual cell and yet holds all information for all other cell functions. The secrets of the circle can be revealed through folding.
From this icosahedron folded from a circle you can generate this three dimensional figure below:
And you get the Perinola Burrito
This hexagon above, folded from a circle, can be arranged to generate this sphere below:
Folding a tortilla or circle you could form a wide range of geometric figures. But where do you put the food in the last few?
Back to the tortilla: Tortillas should be served right off the comal. They taste best when fresh. A tortilla can be made on a comal in individual portions very rapidly, something that cannot be accomplished with wheat bread. Wheat bread needs to rise and spend time in the oven. Therefore, if the incredibly wide range of mexican fillings are already prepared the time between your order and the moment it reaches your mouth is minimal. By the time you finish saying "Gimme two tacos suaves", someone is forcing a fresh tortilla into your mouth. When a tortilla is folded once it becomes a semi circle. That semicircle can be filled with just about anything. Meats, insects, onions, greens, cheeses, herbs, fruits, rice, beans, caviar, eggs, fish, and avocado.
The form that the tortilla takes, its impervious nature, and its "good" fast food quality are three qualities that have affected the look and preparation of mexican dishes.
Shape: Tortillas folded into semi circles, or rolled into tubes stuffed and garnished make any plate instantly reconizable as mexican.
Impermiabiliy: allows you to walk about on the street and munch while you hold your edible receptacle without the worry of it falling apart in your hands.
Toast a tortilla and you get a tostada that can be heaped with a world of flavors or eaten as is with some salt like a mexican cracker. A tostada could also be used as a weapon if broken to reveal a jagged edge. It might make a great mexican mystery. The Pit And The Tostada.
Speaking of edges: make a thick tortilla and pinch an edge onto the rim, cook it and dress it and you have a sope.
Preparation time: The fact that a tortilla can be prepared in minutes and ready made fillings lathered or heaped on makes all those street vendors here possible.
Roll a tortilla, stuff it, and slice it and you can make tortilla sushi.
Or make a burrito from a corn tortilla.
Tortilla Origami. How to fold a burrito
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