May 5th is National Enchilada Day, which seems appropriate, since it’s also Cinco de Mayo. But why shouldn’t this Mexican holiday of all holidays be National Burrito Day, or National Taco day, or some other Mexican culinary classic? Perhaps it’s because the word is just so darn fun to say. As the website fullbellylaughs.com puts it, “Say it like you mean it. “Ennn-cheeee-LA-DA”…. It has to do with the Kevin Ratio. When a word has the right hills and valleys in pronunciation, it just rolls off the tongue with excitement and delight.”
It could also be due to the fact that enchiladas have been around forever, with the practice of rolling tortillas around other food dates back to at least Mayan times. Then, writing at the time of the Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented a feast enjoyed by Europeans hosted by Hernán Cortés in Coyoacán, which included foods served in corn tortillas. Finally, as Mexican cuisine was being memorialized, enchiladas were mentioned in the first Mexican cookbook, El Cocinero Mexicano (“The Mexican Chef”), published in 1831, as well as Mariano Galvan Rivera’s Diccionario de Cocina, published in 1845. As for their entry into the states, enchiladas first ppeared in an English language cookbook in 1914 titled, California Mexican-Spanish Cookbook written by Bertha Haffner Ginger.
Enchilada is the past participle of Spanish enchilar, “to add chile pepper to”, literally to “season (or decorate) with chile.” But this delicious dish goes beyond Mexican borders in Latin America. In Costa Rica, the enchilada is a common, small, spicy pastry made with puff pastry and filled with diced potatoes spiced with a common variation of tabasco sauce or other similar sauces. In Honduras, enchiladas is called tostada. They are not corn tortillas rolled around a filling, but instead are flat, fried, corn tortillas topped with ground beef, salad toppings, a tomato sauce, and crumbled or shredded cheese.
However you roll it and sauce it, enchiladas deserve to have May 5th as their special day. So why not celebrate it by making your own? Here are some great enchilada recipes to choose from, courtesy foodnetwork.com.
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