h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I could not agree more. The tortilla is the most versatile of foods.
Light, flexable, user friendly and damn tasty. I have utillised the
little beasts in every way possible. With fajitas, with bacon, salad
on their own. You say "Tortillas" I say "I gotta". God bless Mexicans.

Hooray for Tortilllas! Such simple food. Simply delicious! Well done.

Boy, just dug this up (gardening pun, not intended).

You might be interested in the tortilla. To make corn tortilla - a traditional food from ancient Mexico - you get a load of field corn (ie not sweet corn, the other stuff - which incidentally is eaten often on the cob in Mexico- quite tasty).

The corn is boiled briefly in a weak lime (calcium hydroxide that is) solution and left to sit a bit. This softens the husks, and makes it easy to rub off, it also alters the composition of the corn. Next you spend a bunch of time rubbing of the shells of the kernels. This is then ground to make a dough, adding water to make it right.

The dough is then flattened into tortillas - traditionally by hand - but this takes skill to make thin (you can squish them in a hand press). Then these are toasted on both sides on a hot griddle. Then they are stacked covered in a towel to sit a steam - later they can be toasted to warm up, or dried and deep fried.

I've made the best tortillas and other Mexican corn based foods like tamales by hand from Canadian grown corn - and Mexican Blue Corn. It is a wonderful tasting food containing many nutrients - including calcium. It's a bit of work, but worth the while - just like bothering with fine French pastries if that's your thing. Although I don't have this much time very often.

Interesting information! I imagine Mexican cuisine, like Indian and Chinese, has fallen prey to the popularity of fast food knock-offs. As an outsider looking in, I don't think there's any better introduction to someone else's culture than their food. What could possibly say more about who people are than how they prepare a meal. Bon Appetit.

JTG

I have some links on my (rather silly) website http://www.newforce.ca/dudemeis/mexico.htm some links to Mexican recipes and food - No relation to "TexMex"

Another delicacy in Mexico is the corn fungus "huitlacoche" in the old language. Huitlacoche is rather expensive to buy in the supermarket in Mexico. It is used for tacos, and other things. My father told me he had a crop of corn on his farm that suffered a lot of fungus - and threw it away! I told him next time keep it - I'll eat it or sell it to my Mexican friends!