Martha looked at Francesca slyly: "Señora, no me va a poner a moler el nixtamal, ¿verdad? " What she was joking about was the fact that almost no-one nowadays uses a metate . In fact, most young women wouldn't even know how to go about getting corn to be tortillas.

It's a complicated and very time-consuming process and one that formerly took hours out of the day for millions and millions of Mexican women. Mind you, I am talking about life in the countryside. In urban areas, most tortillas come from the supermarkets or tortillerias. Too bad, but that's progress.

First the ears of corn have to dry on the stalk. When they are very, very dry, they are removed and the dried kernels are taken off to be stored in bins. Every day the woman of the house slakes a small amount of lime (cal) in water as this alkaline solution is what will remove the tough husk of the kernels. Although the process varies a little from household to household, where I live in a small town in the State of Mexico, the woman will bring a large pot of water to a boil, add dried corn kernels and the lime solution and boil it all for three minutes. Then she will remove it from the fire and let it sit overnight. In the morning she will drain it, rinse it and drain again. What she now has is nixtamal.

Until the 1920s when corn mills started to come into use, the poor woman had to get down on her knees, usually on a dirt floor, and grind away to turn her nixtamal into masa. After that she had to make dozens of tortillas by hand for her large hungry family. Nowadays she will take her nixtamal to the mill, come home with masa and then make her tortillas.

What I have found out in my time here in el campo is that the quantity of tortillas consumed by any family is enormous, so many have to be made. At any meal, adults might eat as many as 10 tortillas. Because country people generally use only a spoon (no knives and forks), tortillas are both a food and an implement used to scoop up the food.

I know it is more work to look for good tortillas, but a bad tortilla is like pan Bimbo and a good one is like a slice of delicious homebaked bread.



PASTEL AZTECA

2 whole chicken breasts, bone in.

1 small onion , quartered.

2 large tomatoes , quartered.

2 cups stock.

400 grams mole paste.

1 tablet Ibarra chocolate.

1 tablespoon sugar.

Salt , to taste.

Vegetable oil for frying.

12 tortillas.

2 cups sour cream.

1 cup grated Manchego cheese.

Place the chicken in a large saucepan with 8 cups of lightly salted water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from the stove and cool the chicken in the stock. When cool, shred the chicken. Reserve the stock.

For the sauce, in a blender puree the onion and tomatoes with half a cup of the stock.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the puree and cook for 5 minutes. Slowly incorporate the mole paste along with the rest of the stock. When it is all mixed in, add the chocolate and sugar and salt, to taste. Lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Heat half an inch of oil in a large skillet and quickly fry the tortillas only about 30 seconds on each side to soften the tortillas. Drain them on paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) and lightly grease a large baking dish. Place 4 tortillas on the bottom of the dish and cover with 1/3 of the sauce, 1/3 of the shredded chicken and 1/3 of the sour cream. Repeat twice and cover the top layer with the grated cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese melts and is lightly browned. Makes 6 servings *Buy the paste at any large supermarket or, preferably, a mercado publico, choosing any kind of mole you want.



CORN & SPINACH ENCHILADAS

2 bunches fresh spinach.

Kernels from 2 ears of corn.

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced.

1 cup water.

1/2 cup chopped cilantro.

Salt and pepper, to taste.

2 cups salsa verde*.

16 corn tortillas.

1 cup sour cream.

1 cup grated Manchego cheese.

Rinse the spinach thoroughly in several changes of water. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat and add the spinach with the water that clings to the leaves. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat, drain completely, and chop.

Add the corn, chile and the 1 cup of water to the same skillet Bring the water to a boil. lower to medium heat and cook until the corn is tender but still a bit crunchy, about 3 minutes. Pour off any excess water and add the spinach, cilantro, salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup of the salsa verde.

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C) and lightly grease a baking dish. Put the tortillas in a plastic bag and heat for 20 seconds in a microwave oven. Dip each tortilla in the remaining salsa verde and flip over so that the tortilla is thoroughly coated. Transfer to a plate and fill each one with about 2 tablespoons of the vegetable mixture. Roll up the tortillas and place seamside down in the baking dish. Pour the rest of the salsa verde over the tortillas and top with the sour cream and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese is bubbly.



SALSA VERDE

7 large tomatillos, husked and quartered.

1 large serrano chile, seeded and coarsely chopped.

1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion.

1 clove garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped.

6 sprigs cilantro.

1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

Salt, to taste.

Simmer the tomatillos in water to cover until they are tender, about 7 to 8 minutes. Drain, place in a blender with the chile, onion, garlic, cilantro and 1/2 cup of the stock and puree until smooth. Heat the the oil in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the puree and cook, stirring, until it thickens about 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.



MEXICAN RAVIOLI

This has nothing Italian about it except that the masa is shaped into ravioli-like little packages. It is, however, a fun and delicious dish. You can buy masa at almost any tortilleria.

1 pound masa for tortillas.

1/4 cup flour.

3 tablespoons softened vegetable shortening.

1 teaspoon baking powder.

1 egg.

1 teaspoon salt.

1/4 pound Oaxaca cheese, separated into short strands.

1 egg white.

Vegetable oil for frying.



SALSA:

2 large tomatoes, quartered.

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped.

1 small white onion, coarsely chopped.

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil.

4 poblano chiles, blistered, seeded and cut into thin strips.

1/4 pound grated Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). In a large bowl, mix the masa with the flour, vegetable shortening, baking powder. Egg and salt until you get a smooth dough. Roll it out with a rolling pin to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut 2-inch circles with a cookie cutter. Put a few strands of cheese in the center of each circle. Brush the edges of the circle with egg white and cover with another circle. Seal the edges with a fork.

Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the ravioli, in a single layer, on one side. Turn over and fry until golden brown on the other side. Remove and drain on paper towel. Continue until all are cooked.

For the sauce, blend the tomatoes, garlic and onion in a blender with 1/2 cup of the stock. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the poblano strips for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the rest of the stock, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Grease two large shallow baking dishes. Cover the bottom with a few spoonsful of the sauce. Place the ravioli on top in one layer. Pour the rest of the sauce over the ravioli and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

Makes 8 servings.