Tortillas: A Cultural History

Glossary

137 Glossary acequias: Cooperative irrigation systems used in New Spain. atole: Gruel made from corn dough (masa); from the Nahuatl atolli. bracero: Mexican laborer allowed in the United States for a limited time as a seasonal worker. burrito: Wheat flour tortilla wrapped into a cylindrical shape to enclose a filling. cal: Processed lime obtained by baking limestone at a high temperature to calcine it, changing the chemical composition to calcium oxide, easily ground into a powder. When combined with water, it produces slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). It can be used to make alkaline water for nixtamal corn. champurrado: Chocolate-based drink thickened with masa, the corn dough used to make tortillas. chinampas: Small, rectangular, raised agriculture areas of fertile swampland cultivated by the Aztec. coa: Pre-Hispanic digging stick, typically used as a farming tool to plant corn. comal: Heavy griddle to cook tortillas. criollos: Mexican-born Spaniards. crypto-Jews: “Hidden Jews,” a group of Sephardic Jewish who fled from Spain to Mexico and New Mexico to escape the Inquisition. encomienda: Spanish colonial system demanding tribute and labor from the indigenous people. hacienda: Large Spanish estate or plantation. 138 Glossary hidalgo: Lowest order of Spanish nobility. horno: Adobe brick outdoor oven, typically used to bake bread. indigenous: Term used to describe the native peoples of North and South America. maize: Corn (Zea mays); from the Spanish maíz and Taíno mahiz. mano: Hand-held stone used to grind corn on a grinding stone. masa: Nixtamal corn dough. masa harina: Dehydrated corn flour. mestizos: People of mixed Spanish and indigenous ancestry. metate: Volcanic-rock grinding stone used to prepare nixtamal. Mexican Miracle: Mexico’s economic, educational, and industrial development strategy from the 1940s to 1970s. molcajete: “Stone mortar” used to grind chiles and herbs. molino de nixtamal: Nixtamal cornmill. mulattos: Part European and African. nakara: Strong collective bond between family, community, and the Mixtec culture in Oaxaca, Mexico. nixtamalization: Process whereby corn is cooked in a mineral lime water solution to loosen the hard endosperm that protects the corn kernel and increase the nutritional value released from the corn kernels. The alkaline corn is ground into dough, masa, to make tortillas. nopal: Member of the Opuntia cacti family, commonly called “prickly pear.” Norteño: Person from northern Mexico. piki bread: Bread made from blue cornmeal and baked in thin sheets by the Southwest Indians. posolli: Maya corn drink. repartimiento: Colonial forced labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America. soldaderas: Female camp followers, companions, and “fighters” who made an important contribution to both the federal and rebel armies of the Mexican Revolution. tlatoani: Nahuatl term for supreme ruler, “he who speaks.” Glossary 139 tlaxacalli: Nahuatl name for tortilla. torteadora or tortillera: Woman who makes tortillas in tortillería. tortilla: Spanish term for a little cake (torta), the thin unleavened Mesoamerican flatbread made from corn or wheat. tortilla de harina: Wheat flour tortilla. Tortilla Wall: Term used for the fourteen-mile section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence that runs from the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego, California, to the Pacific Ocean. tortillería: Tortilla-making shop that produces and sells freshly made tortillas. ...