Part 26 "Tortilla Lesson"

Michelle writes:

This morning I went to the Elder Center at 8 a.m. to help prepare the noon meal. Carmen was entering the courtyard at the same time with a bowl of masa on her head. She was returning from the molina. She knew I wanted to see the process and get the recipe for the tortillas. 

Maize ready to be ground

So, with a bowl of maize on her head, we headed down the street and through a dirt alleyway to a small shop with the molina machine, which is a corn grinder of sorts with a water spigot. 

The maize was dumped into the hopper, and the operator flipped the switch and turned on the water. The maize was was ground into the perfect consistency to make tortillas. 

      Once again, Carmen put the bowl atop her head and off we walked to the Center, where the tortilla-making had begun. I was given the hand press, as my tortilla slapping is pretty pathetic. They offered to put my tortillas on the hot pan as well, as I would get wrinkles in the tortilla when flipping them onto the pan. I have a long way to go if this were to be my new occupation when I return to the States! 

Carmen and Bernabela Making Hundreds of Tortillas

      The process actually started last night; the maize was boiled for about an hour with water and cal. Cal is a product used in cement making. Felipa did a translation: lime (not the citrus fruit). The white powder is mixed with water until the water looks white as well. Then a handful of this slurry is added to the pot of maize. These are the proportions when making approximately 700 tortillas. For you at home, I'm sure a teaspoon would do. This mineral is added to remove the outer membrane from the kernel. Earlier this morning, the maize had been washed to remove the shed membranes. When I bit into a kernel, it was still very hard, like a half-cooked dried bean. 

      Carmen, Felipa, and I were later joined by two other volunteers, Evin from Virginia and Sandra from Holland. Sandra is a nurse volunteering at the hospital for six weeks. She had heard about the hostel and had come by to see the nice accommodations. A pleasant time to practice Spanish: while hands are busy slapping tortillas. 

      Today, each of the elders received 7 tortillas, 2 pieces of bread, their dish filled with frijoles, and their plastic bottle of coffee. The frijoles in Guatemala are always made from black beans, and I love them. Here, they use pressure cookers for the beans. The elders don't like onions or garlic, so it's boiled beans with salt. Dora Luz sautees onion and garlic and uses only the oil for flavoring. At the school, they boiled garlic with the beans, sauteed grated onion and added them. 

Bon Appetit!