tortillas

     

In Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Unite States, and Canada, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize (corn) or wheat flour. A similar bread from South America is called arepa (though arepas are typically much thicker than tortillas). This form of bread predates the arrival of Europeans to America, and was called "tortilla" by the Spanish from its resemblance to the traditional Spanish round unleavened cakes and omelettes (originally made without potatoes, which are native to South America). The Aztecs and other Nahuatl-speakers called their tortillas by the name “tlaxcalli”: these have become the prototypical tortillas. The maize version is the original North American tortilla and is regarded by many as the "authentic" tortilla. Flour tortillas originated in regions of Mexico unsuited for growing corn.

Trivia about tortillas

  • A soup of the Southwest is highlighted by fried strips of this Mexican flat bread
  • (Kelly of the Clue Crew kneads in the kitchen.) Masa is the dough you get from soaking corn in water, then grinding it; the masa is then cooked to make these, from the Spanish for "cake"
  • Texas grows a Texas-sized amount of blue corn, often used to make these unleavened flat breads

Found pages about tortillas