What does the term ‘tortilla’ mean to you? (this is a poll, not a debate)
If it describes something specific, be as detailed as possible.
If it describes a whole category of stuff, try to define the boundaries (and mention what things that lie beyond those boundaries are called)
If it describes multiple categories of things, explain whether they are related only by the term ‘tortilla’, or are related in some other, non-semantic, actual way.
It may also be as well to include a note about where in the world you live, or originate - as the differences of view here are highly likely to be regional/national - and if you’re already aware that others understand the term to mean something different from you, feel free to mention that.
Tortilla is foreign to me in any of its meanings, so I’m likely to have to think about the meaning when I encounter it.
It might mean a thin flatbread made of maize or possibly wheat (although wheat tortillas are commonly just called ‘wraps’ here in the UK).
Im pretty sure I’ve heard people refer to tortilla chips (triangles of maize tortilla, fried crisp and seasoned) as ‘tortillas’ - they’re probably wrong to do this, but it happens.
Or I might understand it to mean a thick potato omelette, served in wedges hot or at room temperature.
BTW, I don’t want to clog the forum with too many of these threads at any one time - I’ll wait until some of these drop off before posting the next one.
It is the first description, if you are talking corn/maize.
If you cut the flat dough into strips or wedges, you have tortilla strips or chips.
You will get some arguments over here in California as to whether you include flour.
But you cannot say the words “wheat” and “tortilla” in the same sentence, unless you are talking about some non-traditional Mexican cuisine.
I don’t call bangers sausages, because I know the difference.
Plaice and Cod are not the same fish, so when I want Fish and Chips, I ask which is being served.
I think that our planet is sufficiently civilized to call the food what the original creators called it.
Check out George Lopez’ concert called “Tall, Dark, and Chicano” for his opinion on the subject.
Tortilla: A flat, unlevened bread made of corn or wheat flour, normally used in Latin-American, Tex-Mex, or ‘Southwestern’ themed dishes and meals. Sometimes shows up in Spanish cooking, too.
Exactly this. My wife always calls them “Burritios”.
Wife: “Do we need any burritos from the store?”
Me: “What? I’m already making dinner. Just get some tortillas for tomorrow night.”
Wife: “What? That’s what I asked you…?”
My mom (from North Carolina) can’t say the word. The double “L” doesn’t work for her so she calls them those “Kessa-dilla things.”
From the UK, those nasty brittle cardboardy triangle thingies are what I think of straight away (no I don’t get why they’re so popular these days). Then, having read what Mangetout said I remember about the wraps.
Heh! ‘Burrito’ literally means ‘little donkey.’
The dish ‘Burrito’ (taco de harina) has become so bastardized by Tex-Mex cooking that I don’t think a time-travelling Mexican would recognize it. Yesterday, I had Thai shrimp burritos. That’s not even Tex-Mex any longer…
Flour tortillas are made of wheat flour, but you refer to them as “flour tortillas.”
Corn tortillas are made from corn masa, which is ground corn treated with lime. It’s the stuff tamales are made of (you smear masa on a corn husk, smear the filling on top of that, wrap the inedible- ask Gerald Ford- husk around everything and steam). The treated corn is knows as nixtamal.
In restaurants here in South Texas, the server will ask if you want “corn tortillas or flour tortillas” with your meal. I usually say “both.”
Tortillas, to me, are flatbread, made from corn (maize) or wheat flour (harina or harina de trigo). If I mean the potato and egg cooked-in-a-skillet thing, that’s a Spanish Tortilla. The root of the word (torta) means cake, so it can mean anything from birthday cake to sandwiches to crab cakes. Fried tortillas are chips or tostadas, and made only from corn tortillas. Flour tortilla chips would be weird, almost like pita chips.
I would first think of the unleavened bread, and at a distant second of the potato/egg dish from Spain. Tortilla chips are chips made from tortillas (or at least, made to mimic those originally made from tortillas; I doubt a Dorito has more than a passing acquaintance with actual tortillas), and always include the noun “chips”.
I’m from the American southwest, and I would always think of a flatbread made from either masa or wheat flour. Growing up a picky white kid, I preferred flour tortillas, so that’s what my brain jumps to if you say “tortilla” with no modifier, even though the masa tortilla is technically more correct.
As a more adventurous adult, I’ve found that a fresh corn tortilla is about the best thing ever.
I only recently learned of the existence of a Spanish Tortilla (the egg thing), and I doubt my brain will ever adjust to that idea. It’s just so outside my realm of experience.
Tortilla chips are always made from corn tortillas, and if a person doesn’t want to say the full name, “chips” is appropriate. I would never understand “tortillas” to mean “tortilla chips”.
Nonsense. There are two kinds of tortillas in Mexico: maiz (corn) and harina (wheat flour). Unless of course you are one of those people who thinks ‘wheat’ means ‘whole wheat’; never got that.
Me too. Except, when referring to the Spanish dish, it is “Tortilla Espanol” (“Spanish Tortilla” grudgingly accepted) and never just “tortilla.” “Tortilla” standing alone is a form of flatbread.
