Tijuana Gringo | |
Daniel's Journal | by Daniel Charles Thomas |
2 August 2001. |
Pat pat pat goes the masa (corn flour dough) in the hand, in the hands. Creak squish the little tortilla press squeezes one flat between sheets of wax paper. Peel plop ssss it gets laid on the grill to cook. Pat pat squeak plop and a sister joins her ssss. After a moment, touch and turn the other side.
Mamas and their daughters have been doing this for six thousand years, this quickly eaten, long-lasting creation of ancient American culture. The people were eating tortillas when the Spanish came to conquer Mexico and call the bread "tortilla." Aztecs called it "tlaxcali," and also ate tamales -- who haven't changed their name -- and tomatl, chocolatl, aguacatl, guajolotl -- all of which the conquerors from another world ate and ate and ate.
The tortilla press made from metal is new. Aztecs didn't have iron or steel or aluminum. Only gold and silver. Yum yum Europe drool kill. Some copper hatchets. Lots of pretty copper hatchets. No bronze yet. Certainly no steel. No guns. No cannons. No suits of shining metal armor with feathered helmets like only the gods wore, like Cortes wore.
No steel blades to stab, slash, cut, chop, slice, stab stab stab, let them feel the cut of our swords, disembowel, decapitate, chop chop, arm, leg, neck, ah pity all that waste of blood and death, sacred blood of life which should feed the sun, feed the gods, feed the holy universe that all may live and breathe and live again....
I went out for tacos last night at eleven o'clock on Second Street (Benito Juarez) between F and G. Just next door to a licor store, se llama esa taqueria El Rey (The King). The Senor was grilling meat, and chopping it with a shiny, sharp steel knife. The senora was making fresh tortillas at the moment I arrived. Pat pat pat went the masa in her hand....