Tostadas ( or ; , ) are various dishes in Mexican and Guatemalan cuisine based on toasted tortillas. They are generally a flat or bowl-shaped tortilla that is deep-fried or toasted, but may also be any dish using a ''tostada'' as a base. They can be consumed alone, or used as a base for other foods.

Corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

tortillas are usually used for tostadas, although tostadas made of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

or other ingredients are also found.

Preparation

Tostadas_shrimp_cooking_food_dinner_salsa

Flickr dongkwan 540812245--Shrimp Tostada

Just as 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 chips. Tostadas are a standalone dish in Mexico and the American Southwest, and are also served as a companion to various Mexican foods, mostly seafood and

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

s, such as menudo, birria and pozole. 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, 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,

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

, chopped

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) 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 nautiloids. Like oth ...

, and ceviche.

Vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

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, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

region is known for its large '' tlayuda'' tostada, which is the size of a

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

and sometimes topped with fried chapulines (a variety of

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

). Tostadas can be an appetizer ("botana"), cut into small

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

s to make tortilla chips to dip into salsa, guacamole, beans, cream, cream cheese or served with chile con queso. This version of the tostada has its origins both in the '' totopos 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 Guatemala, tostadas are often prepared with black beans, parsley, ground beef, and curtido.

References

External links

* {{Corn Appetizers Guatemalan cuisine Latin American cuisine Maize dishes Mexican cuisine Spanish words and phrases Tortilla Tortilla-based dishes

Preparation

See also

References

External links