TORTILLAS!! 

During my visit with Sam’s host family, I had the privilege of watching Dona Maria making tortillas from start to finish. It’s somewhat involved, but she makes it look so easy. For some reason, I find this process very intriguing. Maybe it’s all the different textures and gradients of yellow involved or the working with your hands to make something from scratch. Or maybe it's the fact that this is almost straight-up corn and water. Or maybe it’s that they have some hidden addictive quality that turns ‘I-kind-of-like-tortillas’ people into ‘I-have-to-eat-them-everyday’ people. I have never liked tortillas all that much, but even I was under the tortilla spell.

1. grinding (cooked) corn kernals at the

molina. where do you find a molina? on every block in almolonga.

 2. the ground corn is a doughy texture…then carried back to the house in a bowl (on your head of course)

3.) grinding the dough one more time, but by hand on a special rock to get the dough to just the right texture.

5. the corn mixture is ready to roll into balls

 7. this part is fun to watch. they take each ball of            

corn dough and toss it from hand to hand until it

becomes a perfectly round tortilla. they do it so

fast, it looks like they are clapping ferociously.

 8. the final product! cooked over the stove.