Tostada ( or ; , ) is the name given to various dishes in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
and other parts of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
which include a toasted tortilla as the main base of their preparation.
The name usually refers to a flat or bowl-shaped
tortilla
A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...
that is
deep-fried or toasted, but may also refer to any dish using a ''tostada'' as a base. It can be consumed alone, or used as a base for other foods.
Corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
tortillas are usually used for tostadas, although tostadas made of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
or other ingredients can also be found.
Preparation
Just like stale bread can be made palatable as
toast, a stale tortilla can be repurposed as a tostada by frying it in boiling oil until it becomes golden, rigid, and crunchy. Commercial tostadas are similar in taste and consistency to
tortilla chip
A tortilla chip is a snack food made from corn tortillas, which are cut into triangles and then fried or baked (alternatively they may be discs pressed out of corn masa then fried or baked). Corn tortillas are made of nixtamalized corn, vege ...
s.
Tostadas are a standalone dish in Mexico and the
American Southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
, and are also served as a companion to various
Mexican food
Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...
s, mostly
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
and
stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables a ...
s, such as
menudo,
birria
Birria () \ ˈbir-ē-ˌä \is a Mexican dish from the state of Jalisco. The dish is a meat stew or soup traditionally made from goat meat, but occasionally made from beef, lamb, mutton or chicken. The meat is marinated in an adobo made of vi ...
and
pozole
Pozole (; from nah, pozoll, meaning ''cacahuazintle'', a variety of corn or maize) is a traditional soup or stew from Mexican cuisine. It is made from hominy with meat (typically pork, but possibly chicken), and can be seasoned and garnished w ...
. Tostadas can be found across Mexico.
Toppings for tostadas are mostly the same as those used for tacos: a base layer of beans, cheese, sour cream, chopped lettuce, sliced onions, and
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
, which is then topped with diced and fried meat, usually chicken or pork, and also beef. They are also popular with seafood such as
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
,
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...
,
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
, chopped
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
, and
ceviche
Ceviche () is a Peruvian dish typically made from fresh raw fish cured in fresh citrus juices, most commonly lime or lemon. It is also spiced with '' ají'', chili peppers or other seasonings, and julienned red onions, salt, and cilantro are ...
.
Vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetariani ...
tostadas, while not as common, can also be found. Due to the fragile nature of a tostada, the main topping (usually beans or cream) must be pasty enough to stay on; this keeps the other toppings or garnishes from falling off while being eaten. The
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...
region is known for its large ''
tlayuda'' tostada, which is the size of a
pizza
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...
and sometimes topped with fried
chapulines (a variety of
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshopp ...
).
Tostadas can be an appetizer ("botana"), cut into small
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...
s to make
tortilla chip
A tortilla chip is a snack food made from corn tortillas, which are cut into triangles and then fried or baked (alternatively they may be discs pressed out of corn masa then fried or baked). Corn tortillas are made of nixtamalized corn, vege ...
s to dip into
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
,
guacamole, beans, cream,
cream cheese or served with
chile con queso. This version of the tostada has its origins both in the ''
totopos
''Totopo'', in Mexican cuisine, is a flat, round, or triangular corn item similar to a tortilla, that has been toasted, fried or baked, but it may be prepared with nixtamalized corn masa. Totopos are best known as originating from Zapotec peopl ...
de maiz'' and the
New Mexican and
Tex-Mex cuisine. Commercial tortilla chips, sometimes known as ''
nachos'', are also commonly sold in stores and supermarkets.
In Central America, tostadas are often prepared with
black beans,
parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...
, ground beef, and
curtido
Curtido () is a type of lightly fermented cabbage relish. It is typical in Salvadoran cuisine and that of other Central American countries, and is usually made with cabbage, onions, carrots, oregano, and sometimes lime juice; it resembles sauer ...
.
See also
*
Chalupa
A chalupa () is a specialty dish of south-central Mexico, including the states of Hidalgo, Puebla, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.
Description
Chalupas are made by pressing a thin layer of masa dough around the outside of a small mold, in the process c ...
, a cup-shaped version of the Mexican tostada
*
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and ...
*
Tostado
*
List of maize dishes
*
Cuisine of California
*
References
External links
*
{{Mexican cuisine
Appetizers
Guatemalan cuisine
Latin American cuisine
Maize dishes
Mexican cuisine
Spanish words and phrases
Tortilla
Tortilla-based dishes