Research

The Columbian Exchange is the term that describes the ongoing exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and peoples between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, the so-called New and Old Worlds. The burrito is a hybrid resulting from this exchange.

There have been at least three empires in pre-Columbian Mexico: the Mayas, the Olmecs, and the Toltecs. At the time of Hernando Cortes’ arrival, the rich Aztec empire ruled what is today central Mexico from the Valley of

Common Burrito Ingredients

Cortes conquered the Aztecs on behalf of Spain in 1519. The Spanish at first attempted to import their culture and keep it separate from the indigenous people over whom they held dominion. Among the first things they set about doing was growing wheat, grapes, and olives, and setting their Old World animals to pasture. However, the climate of southern Mexico was less than ideal for these foods. In particular, a fungus killed off wheat.

Having visited the beautiful Valley of Oaxaca, the parcel granted by the Spanish crown to Cortez for his work on their behalf, it is hard to imagine any European-style agriculture thriving there. It is, for one thing, very hot and though there may have been trees there at one time, the valley floor is a very exposed place. It is also very humid, even in the dry season, and the rainy season can see relentless rain. Further, the more protected and cooler climates are in very steep mountains outside the valley. These mountains are covered in dense forest. It is hard to imagine Cortez grew very much despite his vast lands and the Indians he controlled on them. Maguay plants do well there, but not wheat.

My interest does lie in wheat because I believe that not soon after the first flour tortilla was plucked hot from the comal, it’s gluten content and pliability would have made it bigger than its corn sister. Gluten, a protein found in wheat, makes is stretchable and pliable and it is the reason our burritos stretch around their contents so accommodatingly. So as these flour tortillas got bigger, it was a matter of time before they were wrapped up, rather than folded in the style of the taco. In effect, it would be what we might call a burrito.

But the name burrito denotes something important and in an important way defines what it, itself, is. It is a fast food, a commodity of sorts. A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, right? Yes, even before they were called burritos I bet they were tasty. But the name ensures its consistency and determines the eater’s expectation. I suppose what I’m getting at is that although wheat would have led to something like a burrito very early on in the Colonial period, there is no reason to think of it as a burrito in the sense that a San Diegan would use that would use that word today. The people eating their beans or meat or whatever certainly wouldn’t have thought of the wheat tortilla holding them together as such a revelation. It wasn’t.

More to come as I figure it all out. Thank you Jeffrey Pilcher for speaking with me.