Typically Mexico

Typically Mexico... a lot for me. For instance, you get tortillas with everything! Even if you already have "normal" bread, pasta, potatoes (which can occur within one meal without problem)... there's still a little basket with tortillas.

Of course as a Mexican you always have some of these carton-tasting packed tortillas at home:

Many times you'll get your tortilla prepared freshly (best option), or at least prepared not too long ago, like in the omni-present "Tortillerías" (tortilla shops), where the product is ... hmm... edible.

People lining up for tortillas!

Aaaand never ever commit the crime to call anything tortilla what isn't just a plain flatbread. Of course the following one is NOT a tortilla, but a tlacoyo, as can be seen by the bean filling.

The blue color comes from the blue type of corn the torti... erm... tlacoyo was made from.

But it's of course still not that easy. For example if it's not filled, but a bit smaller, it's a sope. But only when made from corn flour. And of course it has more names. How about pellizcadas, picadas or picaditas. Similar, right?!

If it's thick and filled, it's called gordita. But wait - in the north it's not necessarily filled.

When putting two tortillas on top of each other, it's called sincronizada.

When just filling a plain tortilla, it's called taco.

But it's of course a totally different story when putting the filling into the tortilla before heating it, instead of afterwards - because in the first case it becomes a quesadilla.

As you might know from a former blog post, if it looks like a Mexican sandal (however they might look like) it's called huarache.

So enough regarding shapes and sizes. Much too easy. Now the cooking time. If it's cooked longer, it is a tlayuda.

But don't make the mistake to think that everything crispy is called like this then. Because if it's cooked even longer, it's a flauta (ok, to be fair, flautas are rolled, so they are one of the few things really easy to distinguish).

Then the cooking technique: When just drying it in the sun, it becomes a tostada.

When eaten on holidays, they are called chalupas.

But sometimes tostadas are also fried, although then normally they are called totopos (you might know them as nachos or tortilla chips, which is exactly the same).

No wonder Mexican cuisine is an UNESCO intangible cultural heritage for its variety... Perhaps not for the actual food, but at least they are creative in inventing new names... But still, what does this help against the monotony in Mexican eateries?!