Tlacoyo

Tlacoyo

Tlacoyo with green and chile pasilla sauce
Type	Pancake
Main ingredients	Masa
Cookbook: Tlacoyo  Media: Tlacoyo

Tlacoyo [tɬaˈkoʝo] is an oval-shaped fried or toasted cake made of masa. Somewhat torpedo-shaped, they are fatter than fresh corn tortillas and stuffed with cooked and ground beans, cheese, fava beans, chicharron or other ingredients. Tlacoyos can be served as an accompaniment to soups and stews or as appetizers for celebrations. Most traditional tlacoyos do not have lard or salt in the masa, and if not eaten soon after they are cooked, they become very tough and dry, even if reheated. On Mexican markets, vendors keep their tlacoyos warm by putting them in a covered basket, in order to keep them moist for a longer time. This dish is similar to the Salvadoran pupusa.

The name tlacoyo is a variation of the Nahuatl word tlahtlaōyoh [t͡ɬɑʔt͡ɬɑˈoːjoʔ]),^[1] a name given to an antojito typical of central Mexico.

The tlacoyo is a completely different traditional Mexican dish which must not be confused with a sope or a huarache, but according to modern recipes,^[2] in some regions has started to be used in a similar way, as a base for the same ingredients used for sopes.

Since it is similar in shape to a huarache (but smaller), and is made of the same corn as the sope and is even thicker (so it has more resistance to humid foods), Mexican street vendors, especially in Mexico City, sometimes sell it adding toppings on it, as an alternative to the sopes and huaraches. However, note the traditional tlacoyo is supposed to be consumed without any toppings on it, but fresh salsa. In this form they are mostly found on the streets.

Tlacoyos come in three different colors, but no artificial colors are added to its preparation. The color comes from the cornmeal used to prepare the masa which the tlacoyo is made with. The most common is blue, made with blue corn kernels.

• Tlacoyo
• 
  blue corn meal tlacoyo
• 
  Lady preparing tlacoyos over the sidewalk in Colonia Condesa in Mexico City, it can be seen how the tlacoyo is cooked over a comal which is over an anafre, a kind of coal stove used in Mexican households without any heating energy

See also

• Huarache
• Sope
• List of Mexican dishes
• food portal

References

1. Nahuatl Dictionary. (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, from link
2. "Hay Tlacoyos: Tradicional Recipes from Mexico City" (2012). link