Tostada

Tostada (English pronunciation: /tɒˈstɑːdə/ or /toʊˈstɑːdə/; Spanish pronunciation: [tosˈtaða]) is a Spanish word which literally means "toasted". It is used in Latin America to name several different traditional local dishes which have in common the fact they are toasted or use a toasted ingredient as the main base of their preparation. There is a gender difference between "tostada" (feminine) and "tostado" (masculine), although they mean exactly the same. Tostado is used in reference to a specific degree of toast (coffee, roasted grains and seeds or bread toast), while tostada is usually the name of a particular dish.

History

Tostadas originated in Mesoamerica. They make maza from three different colored corn - yellow, red and a blue/purple. Once the maza is ready they are shaped into huge, round tortillas. These are then left out in the sun to dry and have all moisture removed. The drying process takes days or months depending on the amount of sunlight. Once the tortillas are completely dry they become tostadas. When people began learning about tostadas they realized how much better they were than regular tortillas because they could be kept for longer periods of time. As they discovered this, the corn farming culture became mobile.

Mexican tostada

Shrimp tostadas (Mexican sense)

A Oaxacan tlayuda

In Mexico, tostada refers to a flat or bowl-shaped (like a bread bowl) tortilla that is toasted or deep fried. It also refers to the finished dish using a tostada as a base. It is consumed alone, as a dish known as totopo, (nachos, in Tex-Mex cuisine), or used a base for other foods. Corn tortillas are the ones usually used to make tostadas, although in some regions it is possible, but rare, to find tostadas made of wheat flour.

Tostada initially has its origin in the need to avoid waste when tortillas went stale, no longer fresh enough to be rolled into tacos, but still fresh enough to eat. The old tortilla is submersed into boiling oil until becomes golden, rigid and crunchy, like a traditional slice of toast bread (hence the reason of its name). Then is served alone as companion for different kinds of Mexican food, mostly seafood, and stews, such as menudo, birria and pozole. This last one is usually accompanied with tostadas dipped in sour cream.

A popular way to eat tostadas in Mexico is as a dish of its own. Beans, cheese, sour cream, chopped lettuce, sliced onions and salsa are spread onto the tostadas like an "open faced" rigid taco, mostly like a pizza. Then is finally topped with the main ingredient, usually meat cooked and chopped specially to dress the tostada. In most cases, is cooked chicken meat or pork. The "Tostada de Pata" (chopped pork fingers in conserve) has become an icon of Mexican tostadas, and it is found in almost every place where tostadas are prepared. As a general rule, due to the flat and fragile body of the tostada, the main topping must be sticky or pasty enough to stay on top. This helps prevent the other toppings or garnishes from falling off while it is being eaten, although due its natural fragility, tostadas have the tendency to break when eaten.

In addition to ingredients typically used as taco fillings, tostadas are also popular topped with seafood, such as cooked tuna, shrimp, crab, chopped octopus and ceviche or as companion for shrimp stew. Vegetarian tostadas only topped with vegetables, are rarer, since vegetables are considered only the staples used as a bed for the main ingredient.

Tostadas are also often served as an appetizer or snack, cut or crushed into tiny triangles accompanied with salsa, guacamole or beans for dipping. In this Mexican version of the tostada, which has its origins in Tex-Mex cuisine, tortilla chips, also known as nachos, are served as an appetizer or meal, without toppings, but with sauce, salsa or melted American cheese and sliced chili for dipping.

Tostadas can be found almost anywhere in Mexico, but the state of Oaxaca perhaps has the largest one: the Tlayuda. Is as big as an average big-size pizza, but its main characteristic is it is topped with chapulines (fried grasshoppers).

Cuban tostada

A slice of bread becomes a tostada (Spanish sense).

In Cuban cuisine, tostada refers to a slice of hand made Cuban bread, cut lengthwise, buttered, and pressed. The bread is similar to French bread or Italian bread usually made in long, baguette-like loaves. It is the Cuban equivalent of toast. Typically, tostadas are served as a breakfast alongside (and perhaps dunked into) a hot mug of cafe con leche (strong dark-roasted Cuban coffee with scalded milk).

Puerto Rican tostada

In Puerto Rico, a tostada is almost the same as the Cuban tostada, but uses a different type of bread. Is a buttered and pressed portion of a pan de agua. Pan de agua is a baguette style bread, very similar to the Philippine Pandesal or the Mexican Bolillo, optionally served with Swiss cheese. The term is also used for toasted slice of pre-sliced bread (tostada de pan especial), and for a local version of French toast, typical of Easter, consisting in milk-soaked bread, battered in egg and fried.

French toast is known in Spain as torrija or torrada.

Mariana Island tostada

In the Mariana Islands, owing to their years as a Spanish colony, there is a uncommon tradition of the "tostada de agua," (literally, "toast of water"). This dish is made of a fried tortilla topped with minced seaweed, peppers, and meat (generally chopped shrimp, though many varieties exist). Anecdotally, the entire dish was wrapped like a burrito, dunked in sea water briefly (hence the reason of its name), to add salt, offsetting the intensity of the peppers, and then unrolled and cooked until the tortilla has hardened. It is then topped with cheese.

Colombian tostada

In Colombia, tostada refers to a green, unripe plantain which has been cut into sections, fried, flattened, fried again, and salted. These tostadas are eaten much like potato chips/crisps or French fries/chips, often served as a side dish or a snack.

These are also known as tostones or "Patacones" in many Latin American countries.

See also

• Chalupa, a cup shaped version of the Mexican tostada
• Tostado