What Are Tortillas - A Brief Tortilla History
Author: KCKudra Total views: 15 Word Count: 507
The word "tortillas" comes from the Spanish word "torta" which means round cake. Tortillas are very popular in America as well as Mexico. Americans like to be creative with their tortilla fillings and will eat them with apples and brown sugar or beans and meat or even peanut butter and jelly. Tortillas can also be used instead of bread, to make a kind of sandwich, for casseroles and as a wrap for hot dogs. You can do many things with them and you can even make your own homemade tortillas.
Tortillas have been used for thousands of years but without the exotic, imaginative flavors and fillings of today.
Tortilla history tells us that the Aztecs were making flour tortillas over 10,000 years before Christ. They ate a lot of corn, either direct from the cob or used as an ingredient in another recipe. The Aztecs would grind the corn into cornmeal and make corn dough, or masa, out of it. This was done by mixing the cornmeal with water, which had to be exactly the right temperature; else, it would be the wrong consistency to make a dough. When the masa was ready, the Aztecs would shape it into a ball and then flatten it into a type of thick pancake. When it was the right size and thickness, the masa dough would have been placed on a hot griddle and cooked quickly.
Today the tortilla is still made with the same ingredients. Majority of them are made in factories with machines because they are in high demand. They come in many flavors. Anyone can still make them from scratch if they prefer. You can find tortillas in a variety of Mexican foods. Tacos use them as the shell. Enchiladas consist of the tortilla being filled and then rolled, afterwards being cooked. Quesadillas use tortillas as turnovers, which are filled and then fried.
Did you know that tortillas are not just for eating? "Tortilla art" is when tortillas are used as a canvas. They are baked before being covered with acrylic. Then they are painted. Tortilla art represents the culture of Latino artists.
Tortilla chips are made from flour tortillas. The tortilla is cut into wedges and these wedges are fried. Corn tortillas are made from vegetable oil, corn, water, and salt. These chips became popular in Los Angeles, California, in the 1940s because they were mass-produced there, but they are still thought of as a Mexican food.
Americans like to use tortillas in various dishes. They are commonly used in burritos, which originated in northern Mexico many years ago. Many people from the north of Mexico and the Native Mexicans in the southwestern United States eat tortillas as a food staple. Many restaurants use flour tortillas in a variety of non-Mexican and Mexican recipes. Nearly every grocery store has tortillas and you can also make homemade tortillas and experiment with the ingredients and fillings.
There are a lot of different tortilla recipes if you want to try this exciting food in various ways and create your own delicious dishes with flour tortillas!
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