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TORTILLAS
Past, present and
future.
Nueva España section of the 1562
Map of America by Diego
Gutiérrez.
Past
Tortillas or "tlaxcalli"
as they were known in the native Nahuatl
language, are
thought to date as far back as
10,000 B.C. According to
Mayan legend, tortillas were invented
in ancient times by a peasant
for his hungry king.
In 1519, Hernán
Cortés and his conquistadores
arrived in the “New World”
(modern-day Cuba and Mexico).
In 1520, in Cortés’ second
letter to the King of Spain, he
describes public squares where
daily markets were held and
attended by
thousands of people that bought and sold
a great variety of merchandise and foods.
Among the foods that he described
were
Indian corn (maize) in
grains and in the form of flat
corn bread. This corn
bread was later given
the name "tortilla" by the
Spanish.
In 1529, the
Franciscan friar Bernardino de
Sahagun, in his expansive
manuscripts - General History of
the Things of New Spain (Historia
general de las cosas de Nueva
España), described how the Aztec
diet was based on corn,
tortillas, tamales and a wide variety of
chilies. His work is known as
the most complete record of
Aztec eating habits and foods.
His work went on to include a
total of twelve manuscript books
that expanded into a description
and history of the Aztec
civilization.
Tortilla Making - Indians of
Mexico, Domestic Life, 1570-1580
Traditionally,
corn tortillas were made by
soaking corn kernels in a
lime/water solution, to remove
their skins, and then grinding
them into
corn dough (masa). A golf ball
size piece of dough was then patted
down by hand and into a thin
pancake shape. It was then
placed onto a hot
griddle (comal) and
cooked on both sides. This
tortilla making process is still
in use today.
Present
Today, personal
and industrial tortilla making
equipment facilitate and
expedite the tortilla making
process. Manually operated
wooden tortilla presses
of the past have led to today's
industrial tortilla machinery
which can produce
thousands of tortillas per
minute. Tortillas are now
not only made from corn but from
flour and wheat as well and also come
in a
multitude of
flavors and varieties, from
traditional to gourmet to
organic.
The natural
nutritional benefits of
corn and flour tortillas
have helped tortillas
rise in popularity with today's,
growing, health conscious
populations. The average
brand and serving size of a corn
tortilla is naturally low in fat
(approximately 1 gram), low in
sodium and contains calcium,
potassium and fiber. The
average brand and serving size
of a flour tortilla is also
low in fat (approximately 2.5
grams) and contains iron and B
vitamins.
Tortillas are a
staple food in Mexico and
Central America and
they have now gained
popularity and market share in
the United States and Canada as well. In the
U.S., tortillas have now grown
from an "ethnic" to a mainstream
food. Tortillas have surpassed bagels
and muffins, to come only second
in place to sliced bread, and
have now become the
number 2 packaged bread
product sold in the U.S. It is estimated,
by the Tortilla Industry
Association (TIA), that in the
U.S. alone, the
tortilla industry (tortillas
and their by-products -
tortilla
chips,
tostada shells and
taco
shells)
has become a $6 billion a year
industry.
Future
Tortillas are gaining popularity
and market share in other
countries as well. In
order to better serve the
growing tortilla market in Asia, Gruma, the world's largest
producer of tortillas and
corn-based flour, recently invested hundreds of
millions of dollars
opening two tortilla making plants
in China and Japan. Gruma
also has
tortilla plants in Mexico, Central
America, Venezuela, Great
Britain, Italy and the United
States and has recently mentioned India
and Africa as possible future
plant locations.
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