Comal Selling In Antigua
No, we aren’t talking about Comal County around the San Antonio area in Texas (Click the link to visit San Antonio Daily Photo). We are talking about the griddle or grill made from cooked clay that is used for cooking tortillas or quesadillas. The comales seen here, the round clay-discs in the back, are beginning to disappear in favor of modern comales made from metal and heated through gas. Wood is used as fuel with the traditional Guatemalan comal (click the link to see a photo wood piles).
According to the information found in Wikipedia, the comal dates back to the Pre-Columbian era when maize was grounded by stone, made into tortillas, then filled with whatever was available. More recently the comal has found its way into the modern kitchen as part of the stove top.
Please, come back tomorrow for a photo of the tortilla-making process as it is done in Guatemala nowadays.
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December 18th, 2006
I will try to come back tomorrow. I really enjoyed all your latest posts. Iglesia de la Merced is a jewel and I never get tired of it.
December 19th, 2006
This is a wonderful picture! So colorful!
December 19th, 2006
[...] Yesterday I mentioned that the traditional baked-clay comales are disappearing in Guatemala in favor of the metal comal heated through gas. All this talk about the comal and some of you might be wondering what the heck, what is the comal and what is used for? Well, the comal is the Pre-Colombian stove for Mesoamerica. It is used mostly to cook maize-based tortillas, a Spanish term derived from the word torta, meaning a round cake. [...]