Enchilada

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Not to be confused with Enceladus.

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An enchilada is a traditional Mexican dish, which is made in many very different ways. It is typically made with a corn (maize) tortilla dipped briefly in hot lard or oil to soften then dipped in the chosen enchilada sauce. The tortillas are filled and rolled up, placed in a casserole dish, then layered with sauce and possibly other additions such as cheese and chopped onions or olives.

Enchiladas can be filled with almost anything, depending on the cook's taste and means. While enchiladas made with meat or cheese fillings are very popular (chicken enchiladas being common), vegetables, seafood, eggs, or bananas may also be used. One popular variant consists of potatoes and white cheese.

[edit] Traditional Enchiladas

Enchilada comes from the verb enchilar ("to add chile pepper to"). Enchilada literally means "in chili". The traditional enchilada sauce is just that—dried red chili peppers soaked and ground into a sauce with other seasonings. However, red enchilada sauce may also be tomato-based with red chilies, while green enchilada sauce is usually made of tomatillos and green chilies. Mole may also be used as enchilada sauce.

Since the filling and sauce are prepared before assembling the enchiladas, baking in an oven serves to heat through rather than cook the dish. Common garnishes are cream, diced or sliced onions and grilled cheese (enchiladas suizas, suiza, meaning Swiss, is an adjective that indicates the dish is topped with cream or cheese, the appellation is derived from the Swiss Mennonites who brought their religion as well as their love of cream and cheese to Mexico) sour cream, lettuce, olives, chopped onions, chili peppers, and fresh cilantro. Fried eggs or cecina (salted, cooked strips of meat; like bacon) may be added as a final touch or as a side dish.

An enchilada topped with fried eggs may be called enchilada montada (the eggs are mounted, montada, on top). Other adjectives may be used to describe the recipe origin, eg: enchilada tapatia would be a recipe from Jalisco.

An enchilada made with refried beans rather than chili sauce is called an enfrijolada (from frijol, "bean".) An enchilada made with mole instead of chile sauce is called an "enmolatada." An enchilada made with tomato sauce instead of chile is called an "entomatada."

[edit] Figures of speech

As enchiladas are a very simple dish to prepare, the phrase "estas no son enchiladas" (these are not enchiladas) is used, tongue in cheek, in Mexico City to refer to something that is not simple. This phrase is commonly used in response to impatient complaints. The enchilada also has its place in English slang, in the phrase "the whole enchilada," which means "everything."