During the week of Cinco de Mayo students in Sra. Weber's Spanish classes learned that this date is not a celebration of Mexico's independence (Sept. 16) but rather the 5th of May celebrated a symbolic victory for Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza and his rag-tag army of only 2,000 men who triumphed over French troops at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. A special culinary focus for class was learning how to make handmade corn tortillas from nixtamalized corn. Nixtamal is the treated corn from a process where the corn is dried, soaked, cooked in lime water, hulled and then ground into a masa. Students watched a YouTube video demonstration in Spanish to learn this process beginning at the dried corn kernel through to the prepared corn tortilla. Afterward students prepared a recipe large enough for the entire class using Maseca instant corn masa flour and each student proceeded to make their fresh corn tortillas by hand. Once prepared students cooked their handmade corn tortillas on a griddle to simulate the comal, a cast iron plate traditionally used over a fire. Students successfully made a staple food of Mexico and enjoyed their handmade corn tortillas.
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