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Guatemalan Tortilla

Tortilla

Specialised

⚠ NOT A MEXICAN TORTILLA, AND THE DIFFERENCES ARE DOCUMENTABLE. The Guatemalan tortilla is made from freshly nixtamalised maize ground to masa, patted by hand — the sound of the palmeo is a documented feature of the Guatemalan kitchen and market — and cooked on a clay or metal COMAL. It is SMALLER IN DIAMETER and THICKER than the Mexican standard, is eaten hot from the comal and folded rather than rolled, and is made in white, yellow and BLACK maize according to the local variety. ⚠ COMPARE, DO NOT MERGE: the Salvadoran tortilla is thicker again and is the pupusa’s base; the Honduran maize tortilla sits alongside a strong WHEAT flour tortilla that Guatemala largely lacks; the Nicaraguan güirila is made from fresh sweet maize, not nixtamal. The tortillería and the market tortillera are the distribution system, and ⚠ MAIZE PRICE AND IMPORT DEPENDENCE ARE A DOCUMENTED FOOD-SECURITY ISSUE for a country that eats this much of it.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

Languages: Spanish, K'iche', Kaqchikel

What is recorded

  • The Guatemalan tortilla is documented as smaller in diameter and thicker than the Mexican standard, hand-patted rather than pressed, cooked on a comal, eaten hot and folded, and made from white, yellow and black maize according to local variety. The Salvadoran tortilla is thicker again and serves as the pupusa base; Honduras additionally uses a wheat flour tortilla that Guatemala largely lacks; the Nicaraguan güirila is made from fresh sweet maize rather than nixtamal. These are recorded as documented differences rather than assumed ones. Maize price and import dependence are a documented food-security concern. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Maize, Nixtamal and the Comal documented
  • related to Mexican Cuisine documented

    ⚠ COMPARED, NOT MERGED. The Guatemalan tortilla is smaller and thicker, hand-patted, and made in white, yellow and black maize.

  • related to Pupusa documented

    The Salvadoran tortilla is thicker again and is the pupusa’s base.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.