Discovering Gorditas de Mexico: A Deep Dive into This Beloved Street Food
Are you a fan of Mexican food? Surely you know what are the gorditas de Mexico, a traditional dish made of corn or wheat, filled with delicious ingredients that vary depending on the region where you are.
Mexican gorditas are one of those dishes that delight the palate of locals and tourists, gorditas de Mexico are tortillas that are made by hand, before cooking the dough is filled with ingredients such as pressed pork rinds, fresh cheese and beans, then they are fried with vegetable oil in a pan called comal, in some cases, to make the dish a little less greasy they are cooked directly on the comal without oil.
It is important to mention that gorditas de Mexico are not always stuffed and sometimes the corn dough is mixed evenly with the ingredients.
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History and origin of gorditas de Mexico
The first thing to highlight is that the word gordita means in Spanish, corn tortilla thicker than normal, even in several locations in Mexico the word gordita is used to qualify various types of tortillas.
Once the meaning of the word is established, the gorditas de Mexico according to historian and writer José N. Iturriaga, have their origin in pre-Hispanic times, and it is that by that time in the Mexican territory there was a great variety of tortillas of different sizes, flavors and even colors, it should be noted that there are different records that show that corn was already mixed with other ingredients.
On the other hand, the Franciscan religious Bernardino de Sahagún wrote about gorditas in his Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España, and in a chapter he described extensively the Mexican food, highlighting this dish so popular in the tables of the Aztec territory. .
In his history Sahagún speaks of dishes that have the characteristics of gorditas, that is, some of the foods that were already prepared in pre-Hispanic times consisted of a thicker tortilla with filling.
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In view of this, it should be noted that currently one of the most popular variations of gorditas de Mexico for several years, are those sold in the Villa de Guadalupe, specifically in some traditional festivals, and also those sold in some neighborhoods of Mexico City, which are small, made from corn, sweetened and cooked on a comal, this type of gorditas are eaten as dessert and sold wrapped in colored paper.
While in the northern part of the country, there are other types of gorditas, especially in Aguascalientes, Tamaulipas and Durango, this type of tortillas are filled with a variety of stews such as pressed chicharrón with green or red sauce, picadillo, cottage cheese and potato with chorizo.
Traditional preparation of gorditas de Mexico
The gorditas de Mexico are one of the most popular fast foods, here we will detail how to prepare them:
Ingredients for stuffed gorditas
The ingredients you need to make traditional gorditas de Mexico are the following:
- 400 gr of corn dough
- 200 gr of pressed chicharrón (pork rinds)
- 100 gr of onion
- 100 gr fresh cheese
- 100 gr lettuce
- 100 grams of sour cream
- 100 grams of cilantro
Preparation
- The first thing to do is to sauté the finely chopped onion, and then add the pressed chicharrón, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.
- Then you must form a ball with the corn dough (mix the corn flour with water until it has a consistency easy to handle) and make a hole in the center to which you add the filling (the preparation with onion and chicharrón). Then close the ball and flatten it gently with your hand until you get a disk.
- Fry or cook without oil in the comal, it is important to emphasize that if you want to make your gorditas grilled the cooking process is much slower and the flavor although it is delicious is not exactly the same as when you fry the gorditas, however, they are considerably healthier than fried gorditas.
- At the end of the cooking process you can serve the gorditas de Mexico, we recommend cutting them in half and adding cheese, lettuce, onion and green or red sauce to taste.
Ingredients for sweet gorditas
In addition to the traditional Mexican gorditas filled with corn flour, another very popular variant are the sweet gorditas made with wheat flour. Here we will tell you what ingredients you need to make them:
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ cups sugar
- ½ tablespoon vanilla essence
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup warm milk
Preparation
- To begin you must mix the sifted wheat flour with the salt, baking powder, sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl until the ingredients come together.
- Add the vegetable shortening with your hands and knead until a sandy dough is formed, then add the egg and pour a little warm milk and continue mixing for about 10 minutes, until you get a homogeneous and smooth dough, we recommend you to wrap this dough for 10 minutes in plastic wrap.
- After letting the dough rest, form small balls of approximately 40 grams and flatten them in the shape of a disk and then pour them on a griddle with previously heated oil, cook each side, remove and let rest.
- At the end of the process you can serve your sweet gorditas.
Regional varieties of gorditas
Like other traditional dishes, gorditas de Mexico have several types, while some are salty and others are sweet. Both savory and sweet gorditas can be prepared with corn dough or wheat flour.
In the northern states of the country, gorditas are usually made with wheat flour and look like small pita, besides, they are usually salty. While in the center and south of the country they are usually made with corn dough or wheat flour and tend to be served smaller, condensed and round.
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Here we will tell you about each of the variations with corn dough and wheat flour:
Pressed chicharron gorditas
These are Mexico’s best known gorditas, served in every corner of the country, especially in the northern part of the country. They are prepared by filling corn dough with pressed chicharrón and onion; they are usually served fried or grilled with onion, cilantro, lettuce, fresh cheese and green or red sauce.
Gorditas de migajas
This type of gordita is consumed especially in states such as Querétaro and San Luis Potosí, they are prepared with leftovers from frying pork carnitas and are known as migas or migajas.
Bean Gorditas
You can get them in several regions of Mexico, especially Morelos, and they are prepared with soft corn dough and the main filling is black beans. On the other hand, in Michoacán they are prepared with the same ingredients but the tortilla is thicker and in Veracruz they are filled with black beans.
Cheese Gorditas
Cheese gorditas vary according to the region, in the north of the country they are eaten with grilled cheese, while in central and southern areas this type of gordita is more popular with fresh cheese.
Chinese Gorditas
This type of gorditas are mainly eaten in San Luis Potosi and are made with baked corn dough and stuffed with cheese and mole.
Cholula Gorditas
Cholula gorditas are originally from this city of Puebla and unlike most gorditas, they are made thin and with a large diameter. Cholula gorditas are heated on a comal (griddle) spread with lard and filled with beans cooked in paste.
Broken corn gorditas
This type of gorditas is different from the rest because they are made with broken corn, so you will feel pieces of corn when you bite into them. They are mainly eaten in Zacatecas.
Sweet corn gorditas
Sweet corn gorditas are very popular, especially in Jalisco, where they are baked in the oven, and in Michoacán they are a mixture of corn with piloncillo, which is cooked on the comal.
Sweet wheat flour gorditas
This type of gorditas are very popular in Mexico City, they are made with wheat flour and are usually filled with cream. The gorditas filled with cream are cooked on a comal (they can be fried or grilled) and their consistency is usually very soft.
What are Mexican gorditas like in contemporary gastronomy?
Mexican gastronomy is one of the most diverse worldwide, so many contemporary chefs are fascinated by playing with flavors, making a mix between the traditional and the innovative.
That is why it is not surprising that new dishes are now being developed based on traditional Mexican dishes in fusion cuisine, an example of this are the octopus gorditas.
Octopus gorditas have a distinctive touch of fusion cuisine, however, they still have the essence of this typical snack from the Aztec territory. Octopus gorditas are made with corn dough and tomato sauce so you have an indescribable fusion of flavors.
In addition to this type of gorditas, contemporary Mexican chefs have managed to create a variety of types of gorditas, with seafood, beans, and other ingredients from international cuisine.
International versions of gorditas
Although gorditas come from Mexico, there are other international dishes that have certain similarities to this Mexican snack. This makes gordita lovers create fusions between typical ingredients and those used in other countries.
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A well-known example is the Venezuelan and Colombian arepas, which are made in a similar way to gorditas. Arepas are made of corn dough with filling inside, they also have a fried and a roasted presentation just like gorditas de Mexico, the main difference between them is that arepas are usually smaller than gorditas.
On the other hand, there are the roujiamo, the Chinese version of gorditas. This dish is made with fried and stuffed dough and its seasonings are somewhat different, however, the concept of fried dough with stuffed meat is quite similar to the Mexican dish.
Cultural significance of gorditas
The gorditas de Mexico have a great importance for the country’s gastronomy and they are part of those millenary dishes that have evolved with the passing of time, until reaching a mixture between the Mesoamerican origins and the Spanish touch that the conquest brought to every Mexican.
The gorditas de Mexico are definitely one of those dishes that enchant both natives and tourists, tell us which is your favorite gordita?
