Mexico: A Culture of Corn and EnchiladasMexico: A Culture of Corn and Enchiladas

In Mexico, the word enchilada isn’t just for food. When a woman gets angry, it is said she becomes “enchilada”; to say that something is difficult to do, one would say, “no son enchiladas” (“they aren’t [as easy as making] enchiladas”); to request more of something, one would say “enchilame otra.” These examples demonstrate how important enchiladas are in the everyday life of the people of Mexico. Perhaps it is because enchiladas and Mexicans share a common history and culture—a history and culture that began with corn.

Journalist Michael Pollan aptly describes corn as a “miraculous grass.”¹ It is nothing short of miraculous that this descendant of an ancient grass exists at all, considering it was developed by the convergence of three factors: nature, humankind, and chance. The consequences of that convergence are equally remarkable. No other plant has had a greater impact on human life than corn.

Today, corn is the most produced grain in the world, cultivated on every continent except Antarctica.² This is because corn is an exceptionally adaptable and efficient engine of food production, capable of generating more food with less light, water, and nutrients than most other plants.³

The economic result is that corn, for good and bad, now appears in more food and food-related products than any other ingredient except salt. In recent decades it has even found its way into fuel, plastics, packaging, adhesives, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. But none of this happened overnight.

According to P.J. White and L.A. Johnson in Corn: Chemistry and Technology, corn most likely was derived from wild grasses native to Central Mexico called “teosinte” that were cultivated by the Olmec and Mayan peoples. The earliest archaeological evidence of this dates from 7000 BCE from a cave in Mexico’s valley of Tehuacán. By that time, White and Johnson say it “already had been hybridized to the point of no longer being able to reproduce without human assistance.”

Reciprocally, the civilizations that evolved in Central America became dependent on corn for their own existence. The capital of the Aztec nation, Tenochtitlán (located where Mexico City is today), is estimated to have had a population of over 200,000, making it one of the most populous cities on earth before the Spanish Conquest of 1519–1521.⁴ And it was corn that made such a large population possible.

To the people of Mexico, corn was both a literal and a spiritual source of life. It was worshipped in the form of several deities, both male and female. According to the sacred book of the Maya, Popol Vuh, man and woman were fashioned out of corn.

Today, corn is still revered by the Mexican people and remains an essential part of their diet. Perhaps their special relationship with this grain is best illustrated by the Tortilla Riots in 2007, when Mexicans took to the streets protesting the rising cost of corn, chanting, “Sin maíz, no hay país” (“Without corn, there is no country”).

Nixtamalization

During the many centuries Mesoamericans spent hybridizing corn, they discovered that when the grain was soaked in a heated alkaline solution of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), a process called “nixtamalization,” the grain became easier to grind and tasted better. The nutritional content also increased and mycotoxins (fungal toxins) in the corn decreased. Once the nixtamalized corn was ground, patted into a flat, round shape, and baked on a clay comal (griddle), it became the staff of life for the Mexican people—the tortilla—which in turn made the enchilada possible.

The Tortilla

Most cultures on earth have some form of flatbread, from the chapati of India to the yufka of Turkey and the flatbrød of Norway. Mexico’s flatbread, the tortilla, became the primary source of nutrition for its indigenous people and, in some instances, the only food they had. El Códice Mendoza, written about twenty years after the Spanish Conquest, describes Aztec children living on half a tortilla a day until three years of age, one whole tortilla from ages four to five, a tortilla and a half from ages six to twelve, and after thirteen years of age when they were expected to do adult work, two tortillas per day.⁵

Despite the harsh lives of most of the native population, especially under Spanish rule, the people survived. Fortunately, corn tortillas contain many of the nutritional attributes of a modern health food—they are naturally high in calcium and fiber, low in sodium, contain no cholesterol, and are gluten-free. (Note that the recipes in this book are gluten-free, with the exception of the Tex-Mex enchiladas made with ancho chile gravy.)

Tortillas are easy to make but difficult to make well. The simplicity of the ingredients—nixtamalized corn and water—is the reason for their complexity. It takes great skill to “feel” when the dough has just the right moisture content, is malleable but not too soft, thin enough to be tender without falling apart, and thick enough to be substantial but not so thick as to be tough. Traditionally, a good tortilla was considered so essential in Mexican culture that a young woman was deemed ready for marriage when she could make a good one.

With the advent of the tortilla, the invention of the enchilada was inevitable. After all, in a society where people ate with their hands, what better way to enjoy mole, salsa, beans, or other fillings than with a rolled or folded tortilla?

The Enchilada

The origin of the enchilada predates written history, but the word enchilada is more recent, first appearing in print during the 19^th century.⁶ Enchilada translates as “to season with chile,” or one could say “to chilify” something. For this book, the definition of an enchilada is a corn tortilla, never flour, that is rolled, folded over or flat, filled or unfilled, and sauced (in a few instances, the sauce is incorporated into the dough).

Spanish Franciscan friar and chronicler Bernardino de Sahagún, in his 16^th-century Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, gives an eyewitness account of vendors at a market selling tortillas “enrolladas hechas redondas” (coiled up or rolled around) various fillings. He describes them in great detail: some were yellow, some were white, some were stuffed with mashed beans or with meat and ground chiles, others were “smeared” with a chile sauce, and some were “doubled over or folded.”⁷

Recipes similar to the enchiladas Sahagún described are still made in Mexico today, along with many other versions that evolved over the subsequent centuries. As the culture and politics changed and evolved in Mexico, so did the enchilada.

Common pre-Columbian fillings were probably beans, squash, seeds, chiles, bird or turtle eggs, and small amounts of wild game or seafood.

During the Colonial period of the 16^th–18^th centuries, indigenous ingredients were augmented or replaced with cheese, pork, chicken, and other Spanish-influenced ingredients. And when France invaded Mexico in the mid-19^th century, many French culinary influences were incorporated.

The latter 19^th century and beginning of the 20^th century saw a renewed appreciation for enchiladas made from what Mexicans deemed “traditional” recipes. Local versions of enchiladas, tamales, and tacos became associated with pride of country and patriotism.

Neighbors to the north, particularly in Texas and New Mexico, gave enchiladas their own unique interpretations by mixing elements of Mexican, European, cowboy, and Native American cultures.

Today, diners encounter enchiladas that reflect the entire history of Mexico, from pre-Columbian papadzules and simple bean and tortilla enfrijoladas to traditional favorites, such as enchiladas de mole and enchiladas verdes, as well as modern versions that defy categorization.

Taken as a whole, these recipes reflect the political, religious, and social influences that shaped Mexican culture through the ingredients that were used throughout its history. The enchilada is not only a delicious everyday Mexican food but a historic dish that embodies thousands of years of Mexican life.