Made from ingredients that mirror a country’s agriculture, landscape and history, food is a symbol of tradition mixed and kneaded into recipes passed down through generations. In the center of many dinner table conversations sits a homemade meal stuffed with culture. In so many ways, food is at the root of a community’s values and ingrained in individuals’ memories.
Such was the story for Alma, clinging onto a memory of happier times: her teenage daughter Maribel, cooking buñuelos for the family Christmas Eve dinner — a rite of passage for Maribel who proved her independence and capabilities that day.
This dish, carefully selected from YA novel The Book of Unknown Americans for its simplicity and symbolism is perfect for your quaranTEEN kitchen. As you cook these scrumptious buñuelos, reflect on other memories connected to food. Has food brought you together as a family during this difficult time? Do any treats in particular bring you comfort? Have you learned to cook any other new recipes during this extra time at home? What special restaurants are you missing? What food is important in your culture? What’s a dish that reminds you of a happy memory?
Ingredients:
4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons lard
1 ½ cups of warm water
Directions:
1. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Add the lard and crumble with fingers into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse sand.
2. Boil ½ a cup of hot water and add it to 1 cup of lukewarm water to make 1 ½ cups of warm water. Add warm water to the flour mixture and knead until dough ball forms.
3. Turn dough onto a light floured surface and knead until smooth.
4. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and shape into a ball. Let rest for 30 mins.
5. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into the shape of a tortilla.
Cooking Directions:
Tortillas:
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the tortilla to the skillet to cook. When the dough begins to bubble on one side flip it to cook evenly. Tortilla is cooked when both sides bubbled and is slightly toasted.
Buñuelos:
Two Options:
1. You can fry your cooked tortillas and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to make buñuelos.
OR
2. Fry the raw tortilla dough to make buñuelos. For this option, roll out the dough to form the shape of the tortilla then fry them in hot oil
a. Heat a skillet of hot oil to deep fry the dough
b. When the oil is hot gently place the shaped tortilla dough into the fryer
c. When the dough bubbles, flip it so it can cook evenly
d. Dough is ready when it is golden brown on both sides
e. Take it out of the fryer and let it rest for 5-10 seconds then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (NOTE: be sure to add the cinnamon sugar when the buñuelos are still warm)
(Tortilla recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)