Tlayuda

The tortilla dried hard first and then grilled flat over coals, so it goes brittle in patches and stays bendy in others.

Chicken, Pork. Not vegetarian — contains a sausage whose meat the source does not name, cheese whose rennet the source does not name, chicken, lard, pork.

Ingredients

the base

• 4 very large thin corn tortillas, as on their own page, made 30 cm across
• 4 tablespoons asiento (unrefined pork lard), or lard
• 300 g refried beans, as on their own page, made with black beans

on top

• 300 g quesillo or Oaxaca cheese, pulled into strands
• 400 g cooked meat — tasajo, chorizo, as on its own page, or shredded chicken
• ¼ white cabbage, shredded very fine
• 2 avocados, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• salsa, as on its own page

Method

1. THE TORTILLA IS DRIED HARD FIRST AND THEN GRILLED FLAT, so it goes brittle in patches and stays bendy in others. That uneven texture is the whole character of a tlayuda and it cannot be got any other way. A thirty-centimetre tortilla is left out until it is leathery and stiff -- several hours, or overnight -- and then laid flat on a grill over embers. Where it touches the bars it blisters, chars and goes glassy and snaps; between the bars it stays pliable. So one tlayuda is crisp in some places and foldable in others, which is why it can be loaded like a pizza and then folded in half to eat. A fresh soft tortilla grilled the same way simply goes limp; a fully fried one shatters when folded.
2. IT IS NOT FOLDED UNTIL IT IS LOADED, AND THEN IT IS FOLDED ONCE. Dressed flat on the grill, then doubled over in half and given another minute a side with a weight on it. The single fold is what the brittle-and-bendy texture allows, and it is how the thing is eaten.
3. THE ASIENTO GOES ON FIRST AND IT IS NOT ORDINARY LARD. Asiento is the dark unrefined sediment from rendering pork -- gritty, smoky and strongly savoury. Smeared onto the tortilla before the beans, it is the single most characteristic flavour of the dish. Plain white lard does the same job mechanically and tastes of almost nothing, which is worth saying rather than listing them as equivalents.
4. THE BEANS ARE SPREAD THIN AND TO THE EDGE. A thin layer, right out to the rim, over the asiento. They are the glue and the waterproofing in one -- and spread thick they make the middle of a thirty-centimetre tortilla sag and tear when it is lifted off the grill.
5. THE CABBAGE GOES ON RAW AND AT THE VERY END. Shredded as finely as possible, after the tlayuda comes off the heat. Everything else on it is rich, smoky and soft; the raw cabbage is the only crisp fresh thing and it wilts within a minute of touching the hot cheese.
6. The flour-free tortilla dough made as on the corn tortilla page but divided into FOUR and pressed out to about 30 cm, then cooked as on the corn tortillas page.
7. Left out UNCOVERED several hours, or overnight, until LEATHERY and stiff.
8. A charcoal fire burned down to embers with no flame.
9. One tortilla laid FLAT on the grill and given 1 MINUTE, until it starts to blister where the bars touch.
10. Turned, and the asiento smeared over the upper face, then the black beans spread THIN and right to the EDGE.
11. The cheese strands laid over the beans and the cooked meat scattered on.
12. Left on the grill 2 to 3 MINUTES, until the cheese is molten and the underside is charred in patches and glassy where it touched.
13. FOLDED ONCE in half, and pressed with a weight or a spatula.
14. Given 1 MINUTE a side folded, to seal and crisp.
15. Lifted onto a board and opened slightly.
16. The RAW shredded cabbage, avocado and tomato pushed in, and salsa added.
17. Cut across into wedges and eaten at once, in the hand.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes