Tacos, Tamales, Tortas, and Tortillas

 The Mexican taco is a corn tortilla folded over meat--generally shredded pork or beef-- and topped with a variety of salsas and pico de gallo, with cut limes and chopped cilantro to finish off the garnish. There is no cheese.

Street tacos are better than restaurant tacos, everybody knows that. This taco stand was directly across the street from my house in Veracruz. Such a favorite with guests! Their hours were from about 9 to 4. The one pictured below was a few blocks away and opened from 7 - 11 pm. So day or night, we could get amazing street tacos.

Now about tamales. At the bakery down the street, a lady would bring her pot and set up outside, selling tamales. People lined up to buy them. I don't have a photo, but they were the traditional Mexican tamale wrapped in corn husks. 

The photo below is of tamales sold in a mercado in Arequipa, Peru. People lined up for these, too. They look different from Mexican tamales but are just as good. I ate a lot of tamales in Peru.

A torta was one of my husband's favorite street foods. I wish I had a picture of him enjoying a large torta. These are basically a sandwich made of a thick bread filled with meat and cheese, then grilled. 

Did you know that what we call tortilla chips in America are called nachos in Mexico? If you order a plate of nachos at a restaurant, they'll bring you plain chips with salsa on the side.

The humble corn tortilla is so ubiquitous to Mexican cuisine, every meal comes with a basket of freshly made tortillas wrapped in a towel to keep them warm. 

When I traveled to South America, I missed the tortillas. In Chile, bread and empanadas rule, with not a tortilla to be seen. In Peru, it is potatoes. Oh, so many potatoes. And soup. No bread on the table like in Chile, which is a shame. Bread would be perfect with all that soup.

I think the tortillas in Guatemala are better than those in Mexico. They are handmade, without the large automatic tortilla mill used in Mexico, and there's something about the masa dough they use that has a distinctive flavor not found anywhere else.  This lady takes a hunk of dough, patting it and flattening it as she flips it back and forth in her hands. Then cooks it on the cast iron grill. They smell so good cooking and taste even better.

In Guatemala, the basket of unlimited tortillas comes with every meal, just as it does in Mexico.

This is an order of rabbit at a street fair in Mexico. To eat this meal, you pull off some meat, fold it into a tortilla, add your salsa and lime as you wish, and use it to help scoop up the rice and beans. That's a taco. That's a meal.

One more important point about tortillas. When a flour tortilla is used, it's not a taco. It is a burrito.