the.com/enchilada
a tortilla that got dressed up, dunked in sauce, and refused to leave the party
means a corn tortilla rolled around a filling, smothered in chili sauce, and baked or warmed until it all melts together.
from From Mexican Spanish, the past participle of 'enchilar,' meaning 'to season with chili' — built from 'chile,' itself borrowed from Nahuatl 'chīlli,' the Aztec word for the pepper. So an enchilada is literally something that has been 'chili-fied,' a tortilla put through the chili treatment. The phrase 'the whole enchilada,' meaning everything all at once, is a 20th-century American coinage that arrived long after the dish.
- origin
- Aztecs ate chili-dipped tortillas long before Spain arrived
- the name
- means seasoned with chili in Spanish
- whole one
- the big enchilada means the entire prize
- sauce rule
- the sauce is the dish, not a topping
- montadas
- some are stacked flat, not rolled, with an egg
enchiladas verdes — traditional mexican dish from central mexico, typically made with green salsa and chicken, served with cream
enchiladas rojas — classic red sauce version using dried chiles, popular throughout mexico and the southwestern united states
enchiladas suizas — mexican city variation topped with cream sauce and melted cheese, created in mexico city in the 1950s