In Guatemala tortillas are always available freshly made, three times a day or los tres tiempos as it is usually posted outside a tortillería. Los tres tiempos are breakfast, lunch and dinner, which means tortillas made for 2 to 3 hours around each meal time. Of course, sometimes there is time for a television break … Read more
Last week we did a mini series on campesinos and the milpa fields located on the skirt of Volcán de Agua. Today we show the most obvious and popular food, tortillas, that is made from maize harvested from the milpa fields. Other Guatemalan food based on corn are: Tamales, tostadas, chuchitos, pupusas, atoles, dobladas, enchiladas, … Read more
¡No pongas todos los huevos en una canasta! Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Oh the wisdom of idioms do not escape the Guatemalan typical small business owner, as I explained before. That’s why it’s commonplace to find a zaguán shop selling disparate items such fruits, vegetables and freshly made tortillas. Here’s one … Read more
Of course, these ladies who prepare us our daily tortillas can not be missing in series about the real Guatemala. Here we see the clay comal ready to receive the uncooked corn cakes to be turned into fresh tortillas. Below the comal we can see the fire and the ever present pot with frijoles (black … Read more
There’s nothing like on-the-spot-freshly-cooked tortillas to accompany your Guatemalan meals. If you grew up eating freshly-made tortillas, the aroma near a tortilleria (tortilla-making place) can be as haunting as the one coming from a panaderia, bakery; just ask Guatemalan or Mexican for the matter. Tortillas, in case you don’t know, are maize or corn based … Read more
It is impossible to think of the Guatemalan, Mexican and Mesoamerican diet without maize. From the Popul Vuh (Popol Wuj in modern spelling), the Mayan equivalent of the Bible, which states that humans were literally created from maize, to Miguel Ángel Asturias‘ novel Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize) which is one of the best … Read more
Well, for starters you need ‘real’ nixtamalized maize dough (nothing of the maseca flour that Manolo uses), a ‘real’ comal (baked clay griddle) and you need to use ‘real’ leña (wood logs, quite possibly pine). After that, you need a good pair of hand to tortear (hit into shape) a real looking tortilla. You don’t need no sticking mold to shape your tortillas ma’am. 😉
