Totopo

Totopo, in Mexican cuisine, is a flat, round, or triangular corn product similar to a tortilla, best known as originating from Zapotec peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. There, the Zapotec women bake totopos in a clay oven known as a comixcal. Totopos resemble a round, baked tortilla chip or certain types of Scandinavian flat bread, however, unlike tortillas, salt is added to the masa and holes are made in the disk prior to baking.

An important feature of the baking and salting process is preservation, to prevent the decomposition of the corn and growth of mold, regular tortillas generally need to be eaten the same day as they are made (or stored cold) due to the moisture content, whereas totopos may be stored for future consumption, in the same manner as dry crackers.

In some cases, fried tortilla chips commercially made in the United States are labelled as or referred to as totopos although they are not made in the manner of the Oaxacan totopo.

External links

• Photos of totopos and explanation in Spanish (link broken as of 2009-05-09, archive copy)