In our office we are constantly trying to out do one another with crazy off the wall bits of facts or crazy questions. The latest one has stumped us all.
Someone stated (of course could not remember) that there are names for each side of the tortilla…and no not left/right or top/bottom…but actual names. If you have ever really looked at a tortilla you will notice that one “side” is cooked more than the other (this would be the first side down when the cooking began) This of course is assuming that you are cooking them the old fashioned way and not in a big high tech factory that cooks them on both sides at once.
So how about it? Anyone know of the names for the different sides of the tortilla? I’m stumped and am hoping someone knows it?
Not only does the humble tortilla have two distinct sides as you noted, each side has a specific function.
Although originally a Moche cullinary invention, the tortilla did not undergo any real development until shortly after the Inca conquered the Moche in around 1200 AD. The Moche did not cook the flour/water mixture, they allowed it to bake & dry in the sun and it was eaten as a thin, crisp bread. The Inca introduced the revolutionary step of “cooking” the tortilla. And, as with any new culture, affixed their own cultural devices to everything including the two subtly different sides of the tortilla. Cooking the tortilla rendered a more pliable bread which could be used for wrapping various other foods in neat packages–very handy for the long marches away from home seen by the armies of the new empire.
The darker side (first to be cooked) is called **Pachamama ** (Incan earth god), and it is this side which comes into contact with vegetables wrapped in the tortilla. The tougher surface helps the veggies retain moisture and keeps them fresh longer.
The lighter side is called **Inti ** (Incan Sun God), and this surface comes into contact with meats. This softer, more absorbent surface wicks moisture away from the contents and aides in curing the meat to some degree to prevent spoilage.
It is rumored that a minor civil uprising once began within the Inca empire as the result of one priest’s misbegotten insistence that the role of the sides be reversed. Furious at such blasphemy of the gods, troops were issued from Cuzco and the priest and his followers were executed without ceremony–a truly horrible death for an Inca. This is most likely a yarn, however.
Inigo Montoya, I want to congratulate you on a post that, even though more than likely true and fully serious, just smacks of totally concocted BS. I applaud your style!
Not nearly as entertaining as Inigo’s version but perhaps more factual.
The names in Spanish are similar to top and bottom. The thin side is called la carita or face and is the first side in contact with the griddle. The tortilla is then flipped onto el lomito or back until it is finished.
When the tortilla is turned over, it develops an air pocket which separates the cara, the thin side, from the lomito, the thick side.
You guys are making me hungry.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find fresh, hecho a mano, tortillas nowadays? Still warm?
Gah! I feel like crying.
I fondly remember a candy from my childhood, and I haven’t seen any of it for a lot of years. It was reddish, round (a disc) and often appeared to have been formed in a mold. Made of sugar, peanuts, and coconut. I associate it with mexican food, but that’s probably because we got it in the mexican “mom and pops” in my 'hood. It was next to the pan dulces, and pretty cheap for it’s size.
I’ve found a reliable source for these. It’s my very own kitchen, and every time I make them, and savor their warm delicious flavor, I look back on all the wasted years when I bought those Mission Brand flour discs, and it nearly makes me cry.
I dunno, Squink. Unless you have chubby brown hands…
Actually, I may just give it a try. Thanks.
Lunch at work in the fields = tortillas with vienna sausage, Inti side in. AKA “tacos” Chased with sweet, milky coffee. Swear to god.
