My first morning in Mexico City was a relatively quiet one. I had my first lie-in in four weeks and then set about exploring the bustling streets of the city. The street food scene in the DF (District Federal) is not just burgeoning, it isn’t just large, it is thoroughly established and a completely ubiquitous part of life here in the world’s third most populous city. Walk down any street here and you will encounter dozens of locals selling handcrafted foods to tourists and citizens alike. Fresh, authentic, aromatic food is generously served on brightly coloured plastic plates, that would look tragic in England, but somehow come off as endearingly kitsch in this setting. The cost is generally low and you can eat well for very little money indeed. Choosing what to eat though, is a gargantuan task. Especially if like me, you suffer from the occasional bout of FOMO (fear of missing out).
However, one thing is apparent, whatever the meal, the tortilla is king. I visited a tortilleria, where one family produced literally thousands of them each day. In fact the tortilla is so essential to the Meso-American diet, that until 1999 the price was capped by law. The increasing cost of corn production and rising international demand meant that prices did rise slightly in the intervening years. So in 2007, then President Felipe Calderón, again enforced a ceiling price of 8.5 pesos per kilogram. That’s less than fifty pence for a kilo of tortilla. I was informed by a local that this was extremely important as a poor family could easily consume that volume of tortilla in just one meal.
Of all of the dishes I had that utilised tortilla, the simplest has to be Sopes. A deliciously filling breakfast food, these are made from small corn tortillas, topped with refried beans and crumbled cheese. Salsa can be added as well, for some piquancy. In order to master Mexican cuisine you MUST master the tortilla, and this recipe provides a basic route towards achieving that. It is worth trying to source some proper masa harina from a larger supermarket or online retailer to use in this recipe. Wheat tortilla are not nearly as good and have much less flavour.
Level: medium
Methods: novel bread dough
Skills: frying
Time: 45 minutes
Makes: Serves 4
Ingredients
170g masa harina
220ml water (approx.)
215g tin of refried beans
100g feta cheese, crumbled finely
Method
1. Mix the masa and water together in a bowl, until a smooth consistency is reached. It should not be sticky. This takes about 3-5 minutes.
2. Masa dough is too delicate to be rolled out so other methods must be sought. Take a piece of the dough about the size of a golf ball, and roll into a firm ball in the palm of your hands.
3. Place the ball of dough on a solid work surface, in between two pieces of plastic. Make sure the masa ball is in the middle and then apply pressure evenly using a large hardback book of a solid wooden chopping board. You want the ball pushed out into a 3 to 4-inch diameter disc.
Tip: if the edges of your tortilla are cracked deeply the dough may be too dry, so add more water. However, if the tortilla does not remove from the plastic easily the dough may be too moist, so add some extra masa harina to the remaining dough.
4. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Place the tortilla into the pan without any oil, and allow to brown on both sides, approximately 1 minute on the first side, then a further 2 minutes on the second. If your tortilla puff up after turning, you are on the road to success. Remove and let cool.
5. While still just warm, pinch the edges of each tortilla between your thumb and forefinger, thus creating a small lip.
6. Top each sope with a spoonfull of warmed refried beans and a little of the crumbled cheese.
Mastication / Destination 