Enchilada

An enchilada ( /ˌɛntʃɨˈlɑːdə/) is a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including meat, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, seafood or combinations.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Varieties 4 Fillings, toppings and garnishes 5 Costa Rican enchilada 6 Honduran enchilada 7 See also 8 References 9 Bibliography

Etymology

The Real Academia Española defines the word enchilada, as used in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, as a rolled maize tortilla stuffed with meat and covered with a tomato and chile sauce.^[1][2] Enchilada is the past participle of Spanish enchilar, "to add chile pepper to", literally to "season (or decorate) with chile."^[3]

History

Enchiladas originated in Mexico, where the practice of rolling tortillas around other food dates back at least to Mayan times.^[4] The people living in the lake region of the Valley of Mexico traditionally ate corn tortillas folded or rolled around small fish. Writing at the time of the Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented a feast enjoyed by Europeans hosted by Hernán Cortés in Coyoacán, which included foods served in corn tortillas. (Note that the native Nahuatl name for the flat corn bread used was tlaxcalli; the Spanish give it the name tortilla.)^[5][6][7][8] In the 19th century, as Mexican cuisine was being memorialized, enchiladas were mentioned in the first Mexican cookbook, El cocinero mexicano ("The Mexican Chef"), published in 1831,^[4] and in Mariano Galvan Rivera's Diccionario de Cocina, published in 1845.^[5][9]

Varieties

In their original form as Mexican street food, enchiladas were simply corn tortillas dipped in chili sauce and eaten without fillings.^[10][11] They now have taken many varieties, which are distinguished primarily by their sauces, fillings and, in one instance, by their form. Various adjectives may be used to describe the recipe content or origin, e.g. enchilada tapatia would be a recipe from Jalisco.

Varieties include:

• Enchiladas con chile colorado: with traditional red enchilada sauce composed of dried red chili peppers soaked and ground into a sauce with other seasonings. However, red enchilada sauce may also be tomato-based with red chilis added.^[12]
• Enchiladas con mole: instead of chili sauce, served with mole sauce.^[13] Also known as enmoladas.^[14]
• Enchiladas placera:
• Enchiladas poblanas:
• Enchiladas potosinas: originating from San Luis Potosi, Mexico and made with cheese-filled, chili-spiced masa.^[15]
• Enchiladas San Miguel: San Miguel de Allende-style enchiladas flavored with guajillo chilies by searing the flavor into the tortillas in a frying pan.^[4]
• Enchiladas suizas: suiza, meaning Swiss, is an adjective that indicates the dish is topped with a white, milk or cream-based sauce, such as Béchamel. This appellation is derived from Swiss immigrants to Mexico who established dairies to produce cream and cheese.^[16]
• Enchiladas verdes: green enchiladas made with green enchilada sauce composed of tomatillos and green chilis.
• Enfrijoladas: topped with refried beans rather than chili sauce, its name come from frijol, meaning "bean".^[17][18]
• Entomatadas: made with tomato sauce instead of chile sauce.^[13]
• Gravy style enchiladas are the dominant variety of enchilada found throughout South and Central Texas. These have a gravy-like chili sauce over either cheese-filled or beef-filled corn tortillas and are topped with a layer of cheese.
• Stacked enchiladas, also called Enchiladas montadas: a New Mexico variation in which corn tortillas are fried flat until softened but not tough, then stacked with red or green sauce, chopped onion and shredded cheese between the layers and on top of the stack. The stack is often topped (montada) with a fried egg. Shredded lettuce and sliced black olives may be added as a garnish.^[19]

Fillings, toppings and garnishes

Fillings include meat, such as chicken, beef or pork, seafood, cheese, potatoes, vegetables, and any combination of these. Enchiladas are commonly topped or garnished with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, olives, chopped onions, chili peppers, or fresh cilantro.

Costa Rican enchilada

In Costa Rica, the enchilada is a common, small, spicy pastry, made with puff pastry and filled with diced potatoes spiced with a common variation of tabasco sauce or other similar sauces. It is typically eaten in the afternoons in the coffee break, and available in almost every bakery in the country. Other variations include fillings made of spicy chicken or minced meat.

Honduran enchilada

In Honduras, enchiladas look and taste very different from those in Mexico. In Honduras, an enchilada is not a corn tortilla rolled around a filling. A Honduran enchilada comprises a flat fried corn tortilla topped with ground beef, salad toppings (usually consisting of cabbage and tomato slices), a tomato sauce (often ketchup blended with butter and other spices like cumin), and crumbled or shredded cheese. It looks and tastes very much like what many people call a tostada.

See also

• Empalme
• Enchirito
• Mexican cuisine
• New Mexican cuisine
• Tex-Mex cuisine

References

Bibliography

• Mariano Galvan Rivera, Diccionario de Cocina o el Nuevo Cocinero Mexicano en Forma Diccionario, Second edition (Mexico: Imprenta de I Cuplido, 1845).
• El Cocinero Mexicano o coleccion de los mejores recetas para guisar al estilo americano y de las mas selectas segun el metodo de los cocinas Espanola, Italiana, Francesca e Inglesa, 3 vols. (Mexico City: Imprenta de Galvan a cargo de Mariano Arevalo, 1831), 1:78-88.