Breaking Bread During the Holidays

5 years ago

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What I love most about the holiday season, besides family coming together, is the food. Growing up in a large family (the youngest of 8 children) the kitchen and meal times were an integral part of who we were, filled with tradition and love; where there was family, there was always good food.

A childhood memory that has had an impact on me as an adult was watching my parents work together to make flour tortillas (I’d help too). My Mother would mix the ingredients, knead the dough, and divide it out into individual tortilla sized balls. My Father would take over from there, rolling and cooking. It could be a big and time-consuming process; the stack of cooked tortillas looked like they might have been a foot or two tall! This provided a supply of tortillas for several days, or an ample supply for visiting family. At the time, it was a great example of how the man in the home could contribute to work in the kitchen. And of course, the best part about helping in the kitchen was being able to share a hot, just cooked tortilla, buttering it and eating it on the spot. Yum!

Tortillas are a perfect example of a type of bread that represents a rich history of culture and tradition in New Mexico, and elsewhere. Bread has been prepared for thousands of years in thousands of ways and is one food that unites all of us around the world. Whether it’s mantou from China, chapati or lavash from South Asia and the Middle East, injera from northeast Africa, brioche, pretzels, or stotties from Europe & the UK, or sopaipillas and pan dulce from Latin America, bread brings people together.

Barbara Francoli, a professional photographer and photo editor writes: “Bread is never just a functional element of food, but a work of art, where bakers pour out their imagination, creativity and dexterity, while respecting the traditions and standards of preparation…” And consuming bread is “…a highly symbolic product and a cultural emblem of sociability, sharing and a community’s spirit of communion.”

I would agree, which is why I am sharing with you Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert’s flour tortilla recipe from her cookbook titled Historic Cookery (possibly one of the earliest cookbooks of New Mexican food to be published), as it is the closest to my mother’s. I never wrote my mother’s recipe down, instead passing it on from memory to my children—and now they have passed it on to their children.

Tortillas de Trigo (Wheat Tortillas)

Ingredients:

2 c. white flour

2 c. whole wheat native flour

4 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. salt

4 T. fat

1 c. water, or enough to make medium dough

(I have added my own recommendations in italics.)

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together in a medium to large bowl; add fat and mix well. I recommend butter or lard, but you can substitute either with a healthy oil like olive oil or coconut oil.

All white flour can be used. Or, you can substitute regular flour with an alternative flour or a gluten free flour like we did here (my granddaughter has allergies). Keep in mind that you may have to make the recipe a few times to get it right.

Add water. Add the water slowly and only use as needed to get the perfect dough.

Knead dough for 5 minutes. I think using your hands gets the best results but you can start with mixing the dough with a fork or spoon until it starts forming into a dough-like consistency. Plus, it's just more fun that way!

Let stand 1/2 hour covered. You can place it in the fridge to make the dough easier to roll out if necessary.

Form into round, flat balls; and roll with rolling pin into a round shape about 1/4 inch thick. Adjust the size of the dough balls to get the desired tortilla size. I always spread some flour over the rolling surface to keep them from sticking.