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Eight of the nine names of this traditional dishes don’t start with letter T. However, all of them have in common corn, tortilla, and are linked with tacos.

Bocoles 

These are traditionally of the Huasteca zone, specifically in San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas, and are thick tortillas prepared with nixtamal and pork or fat.

The dough is placed in circles of 1 centimeter on a skillet. Once cooked, the bocol is sliced in two parts as a torta, and to fill it you can add almost any ingredient, it could be cheese, chorizo, or eggs.

Chambergos

The Tacopedia points out that a chambergo is a gordita that people are used to eat as a dessert. The nixtamal dough is mixed with wheat flour to add some lightness. On the gordita is spread sugar.

This sweetness can be found in Mexico, but reports point out that it’s imported from Bolivia, a country where chambergos are important in pastries area.


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Chalupas

These are fried tortillas in pork fat with sauce (green or red) onion and a bit of shredded meat. This are traditional from Puebla, and the most traditional place to eat them is in Paseo de San Francisco.

Maybe, this is the reason why the chalupas are linked to the Franciscan friars, who could have invented this dish after their arrival to Puebla in 1535.

According to an etymological explanation of chalupa word to euskera -a regional spanish language-, where the word txalupa means a wood ship, ideally to fishing. The relation between the ship and this Mexican meal remains as an enigma.

Chalupas poblanas
(Foto: Rodrigo Peña/Express Media)

Garnachas

A garnacha is a piece of clothing that covers the toga or grape to elaborate many different wines. It is also a rich word in meanings and sonority. RAE nowadays accepts the Mexican definition of garnacha as a “thick tortilla with chile sauce and other ingredients”

This definition is not enough, a garnacha has different versions. The garnacha from Oaxaca consists on a baked memela with red sauce and cheese, it can also be filled of beans. In the other hand the Orizaba garnacha has potatoes squares on the top.

This is the most appealing antojito street, you can find it outside many workplaces and in local fairs.

Panuchos

Fried tortillas in pork fat and filled with beans. The most common practice is to add cochinita pibil or turkey meat on this dish. The panucho is also accompanied with onion and a good habanero chile sauce.

There is a legend about the origin of this dish that dates back to the middle of the 19th century. In the neighborhood of San Sebastián -the border of downtown Merida- there was an inn for travelers on the road between Mérida and Campeche.

In the establishment, a man named Hucho prepared a bread with beans and eggs. Years went by and the bread became known as “el pan de Don Hucho” (Mr. Hucho’s bread), until the base was replaced by a tortilla and the dish spread to all the dining rooms in the zone.

Peneques 

These are little corn tortillas folded that can be filled with an almost infinite variety of ingredients. They are smaller than quesadillas and are distinguished by the fact that they are almost always cooked in a tomato or bean broth.

It is common to find them in the markets and there they are also sold raw, already folded. The stuffing is decided at home, with the leftovers of the week or home specialties.

Picadas

Again, the most Mexican ingredient: the fresh tortilla. The tortilla is “pricked” when it is on the griddle and larded. In most cases, a spicy sauce and onion is added to the pork fat.

Picadas are also known as pellizcadas or sopes.

Salbutes

Salbute is the closest relative of the panucho, despite not being stuffed, but it is still fried and served with purple onion. The fried tortilla is slightly inflated and soft. A layer of beans is spread on this base and turkey or chicken is added.

To complement this dish of Yucatan, lettuce, tomato and habanero chile sauce are indispensable.

Tlacoyos 

Tlacoyo name comes from the Nahuatl language and means “shelled corn dough”. The dough is filled with alberjon, beans, cottage cheese or pork rinds and adapts an oval shape.

The tlacoyo is finished by cooking on a comal and can be garnished with cheese, nopales, onion and cream. The sauce is important to reduce the dryness of the dish.

A variation of the tlacoyo is the huarache, larger in size, found mainly in Mexico City and Puebla.

Translation by: Luba Michelle García Vega


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