Corn Tortilla - History

History

The corn tortilla, with many variants, has been a staple food in North American and Mesoamerican cultures since pre-Columbian times. It predates the alternative wheat flour version of the tortilla (tortilla de harina or tortilla de trigo) in all such cultures, as wheat was not grown in the Americas prior to European contact.

In Aztec times, corn tortillas were served at every meal. The Aztec commoner ate two to three corn tortillas with each meal. The Aztecs ate corn tortillas plain or by dipping them in mole or a chili pepper and water sauce. The Aztec marketplace sold tortillas that were filled with: turkey meat, turkey eggs, beans, honey, squash, tuna (a type of cactus fruit) and chili pepper.

Analogous staple foods in New World cultures, made from nixtamal and serving a similar nutritional function, include the sope, the totopo, the gordita, and the tlacoyo of Mexico, the pupusa of Central America, and the arepa of northern South America.

The tamal (or tamale) of Mexico, Central America and northern South America is also made from nixtamal, but is much thicker and is a dish unto itself, usually including other ingredients and flavors, rather than a staple food used in other dishes.