Tlaxcalli with green tomatillo molli
A soft, warm nixtamalized corn tortilla, folded to hold a green sauce of small tomatillos and chīlli, bright and tangy. The everyday meal under the sky of Tenochtitlan.
A soft, warm nixtamalized corn tortilla, folded to hold a green sauce of small tomatillos and chīlli, bright and tangy. The everyday meal under the sky of Tenochtitlan.
Mortal, look at this round, pale tortilla in your hand: it is my face that your people knead each dawn. Lime is soaked in water, the maize grain is drowned until it softens, then ground on the black stone into a dough soft as flesh. You flatten it between your palms, lay it on the hot comalli, and fold it over the green sauce that stings and bites. Eat it warm — cold, it loses the soul the fire gave it.
- •Maize grain — two handfuls (dough base)
- •Quicklime (tenextli) — a pinch in the cooking water (nixtamalization, softens the grain)
- •Tomatillos (tomatl) — a good handful (tangy sauce)
- •Fresh green chīlli — according to courage (spiciness)
- •Epazote — a few leaves (aromatic herb)
- •Lake salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Tlaxcalli with green tomatillo molli
A soft, warm nixtamalized corn tortilla, folded to hold a green sauce of small tomatillos and chīlli, bright and tangy. The everyday meal under the sky of Tenochtitlan.
Why this dish? The round, pale corn tortilla evokes the lunar disk of Coyolxauhqui that the Mexica carved in stone at the foot of the Templo Mayor. It was the daily bread of the people who looked up to her.
Mortal, look at this round, pale tortilla in your hand: it is my face that your people knead each dawn. Lime is soaked in water, the maize grain is drowned until it softens, then ground on the black stone into a dough soft as flesh. You flatten it between your palms, lay it on the hot comalli, and fold it over the green sauce that stings and bites. Eat it warm — cold, it loses the soul the fire gave it.
Ingredients (period version)
- Maize grain — two handfuls (dough base)
- Quicklime (tenextli) — a pinch in the cooking water (nixtamalization, softens the grain)
- Tomatillos (tomatl) — a good handful (tangy sauce)
- Fresh green chīlli — according to courage (spiciness)
- Epazote — a few leaves (aromatic herb)
- Lake salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour) — 250 g (dough base)
- Warm water — about 180 ml (hydration)
- Tomatillos (or green physalis) — 400 g (sauce)
- Serrano green chiles — 1 to 2 (spiciness)
- Fresh epazote — 4 leaves (or cilantro) (herb)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
Method
- Mix masa harina with warm water and a little salt until you get a soft dough that no longer sticks to your fingers; let rest 15 min.
- Dry-roast tomatillos and chiles in a hot skillet until charred in spots.
- Crush them in a mortar (or blend) with epazote and salt for a rustic green sauce.
- Shape dough into egg-sized balls and flatten into thin disks between two sheets of plastic.
- Cook each tortilla on a very hot comal (or skillet), 30-60 seconds per side, until it puffs slightly.
- Serve immediately, folded over a spoonful of green sauce.
How it was made : Nixtamalization — cooking maize with ash or lime — was a brilliant Mesoamerican invention: it releases the grain's nutrients and allows it to be ground into dough. On clay comallis, women cooked dozens of tlaxcalli daily, the absolute staple of the Mexica diet described by Sahagún.
The contemporary twist : Arrange three mini-tortillas in descending crescent on the plate, like the moon phases, with the green sauce as a full moon in the center.
Sources : Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (Codex de Florence) · Sophie D. Coe, America's First Cuisines, University of Texas Press, 1994
Coyolxauhqui · Charactorium