The perfect ratio of flour, water, salt, lard, and baking powder, kneaded carefully by my grandmothers experienced hands into the perfect consistency. She would then pinch off a small amount and roll it into a ball and place it on a floured counter. This was done until the bowl of dough was empty, or until there was no more space.
My grandmother would then grab her well used, flour dusted rolling pin and with the deftness of a skilled artisan roll out the tortilla dough. Once the dough was flattened to a certain thickness, she would find a rhythm in her rolling. BAM, BAM! Turn a quarter turn, BAM BAM! Another quarter turn. BAM BAM! Then with a flick of her wrist flipped the dough to its other side, rub a little more flour on her rolling pin. BAM BAM! Quarter turn. BAM BAM. I can still hear the sound of the pin hitting the table as she worked her magic. Perfectly round every time.
After the dough is rolled out to the right thickness, she would put it on the cast iron tortilla griddle (also known as a "placa") which always sat on the back burner of her electric stove when it wasnt being used. As the tortilla was cooking, she would go back to the next ball of dough. BAM BAM! Then as if prompted by some internal timer, she would turn back to the stove and with her bare hand, flip the tortilla to cook the other side.
This was where my mouth started watering. When she flipped the tortilla, you could see where the baking powder had created the little bubbles. These little bubbles would cause only certain parts of the tortilla to touch the placa and turn dark brown while keeping the rest of the tortilla a lighter shade. Back to rolling. BAM BAM, turn, BAM BAM!
Then came the best part. Like many of her children and grandchildren, I watched as she would take the finished tortilla, again with her bare hand, from the placa and toss it in the middle of a kitchen towel that had been folded in half, to keep the tortilla warm. I always found this kind of funny as I never saw more than 2 tortillas at a time in that towel! It was the reason we waited by the stove in the first place!
Once the hot homemade delicacy was in your hand, you had decisions to make. You could take a dollop of butter and smear it all over, fold it in half. (yeah, this amounted to a lot of melted butter on the floor and shirts) If you were lucky there was a pot of re-fried beans on the back of the stove, which you could then spoon on the tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese and have a bean burrito that you will never find in any Mexican restaurant anywhere! (if grandpa happened to be in the kitchen, he would dare you to put some chilies on your burrito. "It'll put hair on your chest son!" As he would eat them plain) If you were really lucky the beans hadn't been re-fried yet and there would be "soupy beans". These were my absolute favorite! (If you want real authentic, ask your favorite Mexican restaurant if they have soupy beans. It may not be on the menu, but if it is, its worth asking for.) You could do what many of us did and eat it straight up. This was when we didn't have the patience to wait, we knew there would be more. You could also go freestyle and put fried bologna in the middle of the tortilla. Although this was usually consumed after a late night. :)
So what does this trip down memory lane have to do with tonight's run? Not much, other than I caught a whiff of that familiar smell while running tonight. And if I find out someone in our little town can make homemade tortillas, well, I may have just found a new friend.
My love of homemade tortillas is so powerful, I've even driven back to a complete stranger's home to get some! When My Woman and I were living in the capitol city a few years ago, we purchased a stand up freezer to keep in our basement. The woman we bought it from was this older Mexican woman who lived in the east part of that town. After my dad and I got the freezer loaded, I was standing in her doorway paying her for the freezer, when I caught a whiff of them! I asked her if she was making homemade tortillas, and she said "I am, how did you know?" Well just like I've bored some of you, I'm sure I bored her with my stories of standing next to the stove as my grandma made them. She offered to make me a dozen or so if I came back in a little bit. You'd better freaking believe I went back later to pick them up. I'm pretty sure I made the rest of the family share one, while I ate the rest!
Tonight's run was consumed with recalling the times I spent at my grandparents house growing up. There are many memories that I could share, but the ones that are some of my favorites are when my grandma was making her homemade tortillas.
...dont get me started on homemade sugar tortillas or even froggies! That post might take a week to write!
Great run tonight. Trip down memory lane must have helped me to find a rhythm.
5.57 miles, 1 hour 49 seconds.
Later
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