Tortillas

Days in México: 84

School started again this week, but it feels like I'm already on holidays again. 3 days into the school term and I get a 5 day long weekend! 

Thursday was the first of May, which is the Labour Day holiday in Mexico. 

Friday and Saturday was the inter school sports carnival so 3 other schools from around Mexico came to compete against La Salle. There were no classes and because I chose to do dancing instead of joining a sports team, I didn't participate. 

Tomorrow, Monday the 5th of May and is a holiday to celebrate the victory of the Mexican army against the powerful French army who were trying to invade Puebla in 1862. It was a victory that everyone was sure that the French would win because they were a better established and had more resources, so it is a day were Mexicans celebrate the victory.

Last Wednesday was also children's day. School was still on but we were allowed to wear casual clothes and had an extended recess break. We were also given savoury volovanes, which are the Spanish version of the French vol-au-vents pastries. I had the volovan al pastor, which means mine had meat in it cut from a rotisserie and it tasted delicious.

The traditional food in Mexico is some of the best known in the world. It is full of flavour and leaves you wanting more! An element that appears in a lot of food that is eaten in Mexico are tortillas. There are two types of tortillas that I have tried, one type is made of corn and the other type is made of flour. They can be handmade, bought fresh from a tortilla press or be bought from the supermarket in a packet. Tortillas are eaten as a substitute for bread a lot of the time and the less they are processed, the healthier they are for you. 

Here are some of the Mexican foods I have tried so far that use tortillas:

Tacos- Proper Mexican tacos are made with tortillas, not with hard shells corn shells. They can be served in many ways with a combination of flavours. 

Gringa- A type of taco. Two tortillas with pastor (rotisserie meat) and cheese melted in between. They are normally served with a choice of salsas, onion, pineapple parsley and lemon (which in Mexico look more like limes but definitely have the taste of lemons.)

A gringa taco

Taco de papas- Another type of taco. These tacos are filled with potato then shallow fried to make the tortilla crisp up and to form a shell. They are really nice with sour cream, cheese and lettuce. I have also tried tacos de pollo, which is the same except they are filled with chicken instead of potato. 

Taco de papas with sour cream and cheese on top

Enchiladas- Tortillas with a choice of fillings that are heated in a tomato sauce. They are served with sour cream and cheese on top and sometimes frijoles (warmed beans) on the side. 

Enchiladas filled with chicken served with frijoles on the side

Quesadillas- A tortilla that is filled, folded in half and then heated in a pan. I normally take quesadillas to school that are filled with ham and cheese. They are really quick and easy to make and are delicious. The most delicious type of quesadilla is with queso (cheese in Spanish) melted over a hot plate on the BBQ. 

A queso (cheese) quesadilla from the BBQ

I have my own version of the quesadilla which is made with Nutella and is best with a fresh, hot tortilla. The first time I made it my host family thought I was crazy because tortillas are traditionally only eaten with savoury food but I soon made them realise that they taste really good with Nutella.

Nutella quesadilla

Tortillas are also eaten with soups and as a side to compliment dishes. Last week for breakfast I tried birria which is a slow cooked meat that falls apart in your mouth in a rich sauce. It is eaten with tortillas to help scoop up the meat and contrast with the richness of the sauce.  

Eating birria for breakfast

There are lots of other dishes that use tortillas but these are my favourites that I have tried so far.