# Food terminology v4: Tortilla **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673 "2011-06-16T09:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/21 "2011-06-16T14:57:33Z")
> [@RoniaBorkason](#): > > Fried tortillas are chips or tostadas, and made only from corn tortillas. When I think of a tostada, I don’t think of tortilla chips. I think of a _whole_ fried or toasted tortilla (almost exclusively corn tortillas) with toppings - usually refried beans, maybe corn and/or whole beans, maybe diced onions or scallions, almost always diced jallepenos, and the whole mess covered with melted shredded cheese. Shredded meat may be added, sometimes. Dorritos (‘little bits of gold’) are a brand name of tortilla chip, and are pretty much an American abomination. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/22 "2011-06-16T15:05:42Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Dorritos (‘little bits of gold’) are a brand name of tortilla chip, and are pretty much an American abomination. And, now that I think on it, if I asked someone to bring me some “tortilla chips”, I would be a little surprised if they showed up with Doritos or other flavored snack items. I wouldn’t think that they’re an idiot, but a bit déclassé. I like Doritos, but Doritos are Doritos and tortilla chips are tortilla chips. 🙂 I would have been expecting unflavored chips perfect for dipping into salsa, guacamole or queso. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/23 "2011-06-16T15:11:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > …Doritos are Doritos and tortilla chips are tortilla chips. 🙂 Amen. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/24 "2011-06-16T15:11:32Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 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”. This, except that I’m completely unfamiliar with the potato/egg dish from Spain. It sounds yummy, but I’d never heard of it before this thread. I grew up in Texas and now live in southern California. ETA: I like Doritos, but don’t consider them tortilla chips. They are their own variety of goodness. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/25 "2011-06-16T15:33:52Z")
Tortillas are thin flat bread made from cornflour or wheat. Traditionally formed and/or cooked on a flat piece of limestone. Tortilla chips are fried pieces of tortillas, though often the packaged ones are machine made in the form you get them in. If you are eating store bought tortilla chips, you have no idea what the real thing tastes like. Wheat tortilla chips fried to a golden brown are incredibly delicious. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/26 "2011-06-16T15:43:50Z")
What everybody else said about Tex-Mex. I am aware that there is a Spanish dish with that name, but since I don’t really care much for Spanish food, I have never tried it. If you don’t make your own or have a taqueria close by, you don’t know the true wonderfulness of a tortilla. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/27 "2011-06-16T15:58:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > …I don’t really care much for Spanish food… T’ch. You’re missing out on a LOT of great food. Give it another try. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/28 "2011-06-16T16:50:38Z")
No doubt. Not saying I actively dislike it. It’s just not way up on my list of “Foods I Must Eat.” Too many other things of interest, and to my knowledge there aren’t (m)any Spanish restaurants around my locale. I’ll survive. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/29 "2011-06-16T17:02:12Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization). > > 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.” 🙂 Sorry…I am talking about those whole wheat monstrosities… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/30 "2011-06-16T17:28:09Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Tortilla: A flat, unlevened bread made of corn or wheat flour, normally used in Latin-American, Tex-Mex, or ‘Southwestern’ themed dishes and meals. This. I’ll add that tortillas may be flat and brittle and crunchy, or they may be soft and foldable. And that, in my experience, tortillas (though not tortilla chips) are invariably circular in shape. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Or I might understand it to mean a thick potato omelette, served in wedges hot or at room temperature. Never heard of this. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/31 "2011-06-16T17:37:50Z")
I would call the crispy ones tostadas. Is that incorrect? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/32 "2011-06-16T17:42:07Z")
I should add that I would probably refer to the potato/egg tortilla as Spanish tortilla, unless I was in Spain, where i could just call it tortilla. I should also add that in the UK, a lot of people don’t get the double L right. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/33 "2011-06-16T17:56:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I should add that I would probably refer to the potato/egg tortilla as Spanish tortilla, unless I was in Spain, where i could just call it tortilla. > > I should also add that in the UK, a lot of people don’t get the double L right. The double L has the same sound as y in the word “yellow” So Amarillo is not pronounced Ah Mah Rill Oh (except by Texans); it is pronounced" Ah Mah Ree Yo" So why doesn’t Spanish just spell it Amariyo? Probably for the same reason we don’t spell “Knife” and “Knight” “nife” and “night”…LOL ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/34 "2011-06-16T17:59:42Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > The double L has the same sound as y in the word “yellow” > > So Amarillo is not pronounced Ah Mah Rill Oh (except by Texans); it is pronounced" Ah Mah Ree Yo" > > So why doesn’t Spanish just spell it Amariyo? > > Probably for the same reason we don’t spell “Knife” and “Knight” “nife” and “night”…LOL Are you saying the Ls used to be pronounced if you go far enough back? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/35 "2011-06-16T18:08:08Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Are you saying the Ls used to be pronounced if you go far enough back? Stealing from [reference.com](http://reference.com): _galleon 1529, from [O.Fr](http://O.Fr). galion, from Sp. galeón “galleon, armed merchant ship,” from Byzantine Gk. galea “galley” (see galley) + augmentive suffix -on._ So I am thinking yes, but we are off topic again…sorry Mod…Sorry OP… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/36 "2011-06-16T18:28:59Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Stealing from [reference.com](http://reference.com): > > _galleon > 1529, from [O.Fr](http://O.Fr). galion, from Sp. galeón “galleon, armed merchant ship,” from Byzantine Gk. galea “galley” (see galley) + augmentive suffix -on._ > > So I am thinking yes, but we are off topic again…sorry Mod…Sorry OP… Since this is off-topic, it’s the last I’ll say about it, but, yeah, I could see how that could happen. I can imagine someone, perhaps someone who talks fast or doesn’t enunciate carefully, saying “a million dollars” so that it sounds like “a miyon dollars”; so that, over time, “ll” could morph into “y.” To **WhyNot** : I think of a **tostada** as having something on it. But, at least [according to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tostada#Mexican_tostada), the word could refer to either just the tortilla or to the tortilla with stuff on it: > [@](#): > > In Mexico it refers to a flat or bowl-shaped (like a bread bowl) tortilla that is toasted or deep fried. It also refers to the finished dish using a tostada as a base. And in other areas, a “tostada” is basically a piece of toast. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/37 "2011-06-16T18:48:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > And in other areas, a “tostada” is basically a piece of toast. A piece of toasted tortilla with yummy stuff on it! 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/38 "2011-06-16T19:26:57Z")
A tortilla is a thin, flexible flatbread that can be used to wrap a burrito or other wrap. Fry it crispy, and it’s either a tostada (if it’s still a full intact round) or chips/corn chips/tortilla chips/whatever if cut into bite-sized strips or wedges. Or a taco shell or taco salad bowl, if shaped appropriately before frying. A tostada will usually be served with toppings on it, but the tostada itself is the crispy bread used for the base. I also know of and have had the Spanish egg dish (it’s sort of like an omelet, but much firmer), but it would certainly not be the first thing I thought of on hearing “tortilla”. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673/39 "2011-06-16T19:30:30Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 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”. +1 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v4-tortilla/585673.md?page=1)