Totopostes — Twice-Cooked Corn Travel Biscuits
Corn cakes cooked a second time, thicker and crispier, that keep well and travel without spoiling. You snack on them along the way or dip them in coffee.
Corn cakes cooked a second time, thicker and crispier, that keep well and travel without spoiling. You snack on them along the way or dip them in coffee.
Before a long trip, we always prepare the bastimento. The totopostes, we make them thicker than tortillas, cook them twice so they hold, and pack them in a cloth at the bottom of the bag. You walk for hours in the mountains, sit by the roadside, break a totoposte with a little salt—and off you go again. The struggle needs strong legs and a stomach that doesn't complain too much; our grandmothers already knew that.
- •Nixtamalized corn masa — as much as needed (dough)
- •Salt — a good pinch (seasoning and preservation)
- •A little fat — optional (texture and flavor)
Totopostes — Twice-Cooked Corn Travel Biscuits
Corn cakes cooked a second time, thicker and crispier, that keep well and travel without spoiling. You snack on them along the way or dip them in coffee.
Why this dish? Berta spent her life on the road: from remote villages of Intibucá to assemblies in Tegucigalpa, all the way to San Francisco to receive the Goldman Prize. The totoposte, a dried, crispy tortilla that keeps for days, is the classic bastimento for anyone traveling in Honduras—the marching bread of corn.
Before a long trip, we always prepare the bastimento. The totopostes, we make them thicker than tortillas, cook them twice so they hold, and pack them in a cloth at the bottom of the bag. You walk for hours in the mountains, sit by the roadside, break a totoposte with a little salt—and off you go again. The struggle needs strong legs and a stomach that doesn't complain too much; our grandmothers already knew that.
Ingredients (period version)
- Nixtamalized corn masa — as much as needed (dough)
- Salt — a good pinch (seasoning and preservation)
- A little fat — optional (texture and flavor)
Ingredients
- Masa harina — 300 g (dough)
- Warm water — about 200 ml (hydration)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Oil — 1 tbsp (pliability and texture)
Method
- Mix masa harina, salt, oil, and warm water into a firm dough. Let rest 10 min.
- Form cakes thicker than tortillas (5-6 mm) and 10 cm wide.
- Cook them first 2 min per side on a hot skillet, like a tortilla.
- Then bake them at 160°C for 15-20 min, turning once, until dry and golden.
- Let cool completely: they harden into crisps. Store in a cloth or airtight container.
How it was made : Drying and re-grilling the tortilla is an ancient preservation technique in Mesoamerica: twice-cooked corn loses its water, doesn't mold, and becomes the quintessential travel food, from pre-Columbian merchants to today's peasants.
The contemporary twist : Sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds and smoked salt before the second oven pass: a corn cracker for the activist aperitif.
Berta Cáceres · Charactorium