10 points for best answer!!?

Question

I have an oral report in spanish class. I have decided that i am going to do it on mexican food. I was wondering if anyone new the history behind the tortia? But I would also like some more Ideas. What other kinds of mexican food should I use? What is your favorite mexican dish and favorite desert. My oral report has to be 10 minutes long and I have to speak in spanish the whole time.
So any other ideas would help as well.

Answer 1

Firstly, i assume that when you said "tortia" you meant tortilla.


According to http://www.texmextogo.com/tortillas.htm

the time of the Spanish conquest, the Mexican or the Aztec, as they were commonly called, were the dominant people in Meso-America in 1519. The Spanish conquerors were avidly looking for gold and they found plenty of it, which they sent back to Spain. However, when they reached the highlands of Mexico, they found a strange and gorgeous civilization and to their delight the most unusual of its glories was its food. A great deal of information has been preserved about what the ordinary Mexican Indians ate and how they prepared their food.



The starting point was corn, the sacred plant of their religion. It supplied starch, the main energy source in the Indian diet, as well as protein and a little fat. Sometimes it was eaten green off the cob, either raw boiled or roasted, or the immature kernels were cut or scraped off to be made into cakes or added to other dishes. But more generally the Mexican Indians let their corn ripen and stored the ears in ventilated corncribs.

The Indians sometimes used a stone mortar and pestle to grind the hard whole kernels into meal out of which corn gruel (atole) was made, but this took a lot of effort. Far better was their system of heating the kernels in a mildly corrosive solution of lime until the skins came off. The skinless kernels were called nixtamal , an Aztec word still in use. Sometimes nixtamal was dried and stored, or it could be boiled in fresh, limeless water. When this was done the kernels swelled up enormously and became as soft as spaghetti resulting in a dish called pozole, one of the basic Indian ways to eat corn.

A more usual way of making nixtamal was to mash the soaked kernels into masa, a dough, to make tortillas. The ancient method can still be seen in some parts of Mexico. The Indian woman squats on the ground in front of a stone slab known as a metate. The woman puts a few handfuls of nixtamal on the flat surface and scrubs back and forth with a stoneroller. The product, masa, may be white, yellow or other colors according to the color of the corn but if it is intended for tortillas it has to have exactly the right consistency. She then takes a piece of masa as big as a golf ball between her wetted hands and - pat, pat, pat - flattens it into a round cake less than one eighth of an inch thick and six to eight inches in diameter. Cooking tortillas is easy. They are simply tossed on a hot griddle (comal) for 20 seconds, then turned over once for 20 seconds. Tortillas brown only slightly but develop a thin, tough skin on both sides. At times they puff up momentarily like soufflé potatoes.

Mexican cooking starts now as in the Aztec days with tortillas, the "bread of Mexico" and only those who have tasted them hot off the griddle know how good tortillas can be. Mexicans use them as plates, forks and spoons. They dip their tortillas into stews and use torn-off pieces to scoop up sauces. They can be eaten plain or with butter, beans or meat, chili or sauces…almost any kind of food that is not too liquid can be placed on a tortilla…the "bread of Mexico"!



good luck with your project and make sure you spell TORTILLA right! lol

Answer 2

To understand the history of the tortilla is simple. tortillas are made form corn, like any other ingredient, it will spoil if not properly stored. In an arid environment such as Mexico drying was the perfect solutions. The then dried corn would be ground into a powder, add some water and you have a classic un-leavened bread.

Other aspects of Mexican fare to speak of would be the classic Mole'. Just do a internet search and you will find more than enough info to make that 10 minutes sail by.

Good luck

Answer 3

Not sure the history behind the *tortilla* (would hate to misspell that on a test or assignment), but I'm sure you can google it.

When I was in highschool, I hade to make a spanish dish and I did Taco Salad. It went over really well.

I'm not sure what kind of information you want to include in your report but I did a quick google search for you and this website should help:

www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html


(it has history as well as recipe information)

Good Luck on ur report!


*EDIT* also, if you are having trouble figuring out to make a 10 minute speech in spanish, here's a bit of a cheat:

Type it in WORD format in English then, when you're finished highlight it and convert it to Spanish (should be under the Language tab) Good luck!

Answer 4

Every culture has its own version of flat bread. The native Americans have fry bread, there is Roti and Naan from India, and tortillas from the Southwestern US, Mexico and South America. There are two kinds of tortillas, corn and flour. Flour tortillas are cooked by rolling the dough out and cooking it on a flat cast iron pan called a comal. You can use your flour tortilla dough to make bunuelos, a fried treat. Roll out into a circle, cut into fourths and deep fry in oil. The dough puffs up. When browned, lay on paper towels to cool and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. My family believes it brings luck to have these on New Year's.

I make enchiladas frequently with corn tortillas. My favorite are green chile chicken enchiladas but the dish is very versatile and you can make traditional red enchiladas with ground beef. Top the enchiladas with Mexican crema, a thick and rich sour cream.

You may also want to pinpoint how Mexican dishes differ from TexMex and Americanized Mexican Fast Food. Taco Bell is not Mexican food!

Answer 5

I'm glad it's an Oral report because you can't spell very well.

Tortia=Tortilla
New=Knew
Desert=Dessert

Anyhow,here is some information for you...

Mexican Food Facts

Mexican food is a mix of Indian and Spanish traditional foods.
Staples of the Mexican diet include corn, tomatoes, squash, and a variety of beans and peppers
Lard is commonly used in beans and to fry foods.
Cocoa is a popular seasoning
Refried beans are usually prepared in large batches and reheated during the week. Lard is added during the reheating process to help separate the beans
The word taco means snack, although American’s use it for one dish in particular
Tortillas accompany almost all meals as either a bread or as part of the main dish
Tortillas are very versatile they can be served: toasted or fried, rolled or folded, stuffed with meats or vegetables and /or topped with gravy or sauces.

Chiles are a staple. They add enhance the flavor and add variety to foods without adding fat. They come in many sizes, colors, and flavors. Most have a sweet/mild taste but some such as Jalapeno, Poblano, and Serrano, are fiery/hot.

Answer 6

Just a suggestion but why not do your report on the much more popular food of Mexican origin. Chocolate which was introduced to Europeans by the Aztecs. It's history and evolution are much more entertaining not to mention delicious!

Answer 7

I would just like to point out something you should know. Tortilla's are actually an American invention. They have become common place in Mexican food, but they did not start off that way.

In case you get to China to, Fortune cookies are also an American invention.

For Italy, noodles were a Chinese invention.

Answer 8

Which do you mean tortilla or torta?

I'm sure you could do a quick internet search on the subject.
But you must consider the language that you know so I'd base the dish on what is easily translatable. Maybe beans and rice. The history of the tortilla could be very interesting.
Food is always a fun topic. Good luck!

Answer 9

im in spanish class, too.
i dont really know the history behind tortillas but i do know about a lot of spanish foods.
there are these sugar skulls that the spanish "offer" to the dead on day of the dead. personally, my favorite mexican dish that me gusta comer is quesadillas. lol.
but if you want to strech out your oral report, introduce yourself lol.
a good idea for a history is sugar skulls because of the whole day of the dead thing & should be pretty easy

Answer 10

Speaking spanish for 10 minutes?? About tortillas??? Is that possible?? I mean how much information is there about a flattened out piece of dough!