Tortillas in guatemala

Index
Introduction

History of Tortilla How to make Tortillas?
Ingredients - Tools Process of making tortillas Nutritional Value

Tortillas in Guatemalan food Tortillas in General Culture
Idioms National Day “Súper Tortila” Conclusions

Introduction
Tortillas are an important aspect in Guatemalan cuisine. They have existed since the Mayan and have prevailed to this day. The process ofmaking them is considered an art and the wide variety of meals on which you can eat it is virtually the whole Guatemalan cuisine and more. Tortillas are considered a National symbol because it unites the whole Guatemalan culture, both in culinary and communication fields. Nowadays tortillas are a basis of Guatemalan cuisine and they are a proof of how the culture has existed and will continue toexist for many more years in such a predominant way.

Tortillas
Corn tortillas are and have been fundamental in Guatemalan cuisine since a long time ago. It is used in wide variety of food and the process of making it is something that not everyone can do. Some even consider it an art.

History of Tortillas
It is believed that tortillas were originated in Mesoamerica in 1500 b.c. because itis around this date that the “comales” (traditional stove from Guatemala) used for their cooking were used. Tortilla´s main ingredient is corn, which was the base food for the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica. Corn has it origin from the Mayan mythology in the Popol Vuh, the Sacred Mayan Book. According to the creation myth, the gods decided to create the man but after trying to createhim with wood and later on with clay, they tried with corn and it turned out successful. That is why Mayan people are “men of corn”. The Mayan also had a God for Corn, called Yum Kax (picture). The two most relevant aspects in the making of tortillas were the harvesting of corn and the practice of nixtamal, which is a process on which the corn kernel is crushed and boiled in water of lime. These twoprocesses were remarkable progresses in the prehispanic culinary.

How to make Tortillas?
Ingredients – Tools You need corn as a masa or dough. It takes several hours to do this masa. It is made in the following way: - Corn is the main ingredient. There are two types, the sweet one when is harvested when the kernels are tender and sweet. In Guatemala is called “elote”. However the other typeis the one you use for tortillas. This corn is left until the kernels are fully mature and dry. An important aspect of Guatemalan corn is that there are several types of corn, therefore yellow, black and white tortillas can be made. To make the corn masa or dough, the hardened corn kernels are boiled in water with lime dissolved on it. As stated before this is called nixtamal. After boiling thekernels it is fairly easy to grind into a sort of wet dough which is the masa. The corn is cooked in a metal basin over an open fire. The mix is heated to boiling over an open fire and cooked until the kernels are soft. The excess of water is poured off and the corn is ground. You use a grinder or you manually prepare the dough. Then the process to make tortillas begins.

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-Nowadays there are two types of dough to make tortillas. One is the traditional one, stated before. The other one is when powdered mix is being used instead of nixtamal. The flavor, aroma and consistency are very different. How to make tortillas? What you need first is a comal, which is traditional stove from Guatemala. It is a heavy steel, iron or clay which is heated with firewood, giving thetortillas a faintly smoky taste. The iron and steel comales are heated with gas. After the tortillas are made they are set in a basket covered with fabric to keep them warm.

The traditional way of making tortillas is the following:

1. A tortilla maker wets her hands, grabs a handful of masa and makes it into a ball.

2. The ball is squashed between the two hands.

3. The edge of the ball is...