Sorry Taco Bell, Tlayuda Is The Original Mexican-Style Pizza
A fast-food Mexican pizza may be good enough for late-night munchies or a rushed meal to eat off your lap in the car. However, to experience the flavor and texture of a true Mexican pizza, don't say Taco Bell: say tlayuda. If that name doesn't ring a bell, it's a popular street food native to the Oaxacan region of southern Mexico.
To give Taco Bell just the barest minimum of credit, two elements of its Mexican Pizza slightly echo elements of a tlayuda. Taco Bell's creation, which first greeted customers in 1985, includes a layer of refried beans and is built with tortillas instead of a thicker, chewy, Italian-style pizza crust. However, even with these two similarities, this fast-food pizza doesn't come anywhere near the real thing.
The Oaxacan dish has been around in some form since at least the 1930s. "Tlayuda" is the name for the base, a huge masa tortilla that can be as large as 14 inches in diameter. It's flattened, then lightly crisped and charred on a hot comal, a large, flat cooking surface made of steel or clay. And then come the tlayuda toppings.
Go traditional or inventive with tlayuda toppings
The traditional toppings for a tlayuda begin with a layer of lard followed by black bean paste. It's then topped with shreds of quesillo, an Oaxacan string cheese, and shreds of cabbage. The tlayuda can be served flat and open-faced, or be folded in half and griddled on both sides like a giant quesadilla. (That's why the tlayuda is only lightly crisped — so that it can be folded in half without cracking.)
This Mexican pizza is easy to customize with a number of other toppings, like grilled onions, sliced avocado, tomatoes, chorizo, or tasajo, which is thinly sliced, cured beef. Another common topping in Mexico is grasshoppers. Tlayudas have a fan in chef Rick Bayless; they can be found on the menu at his Chicago restaurant Xoco with an ever-changing variety of toppings like poblano peppers, pork belly, watermelon radishes, and spiced chicken. Serve tlayudas with salsa verde or salsa rojo, and don't both with utensils: Just pick up the mammoth tortilla and take a bite.
If tlayudas aren't available in area restaurants, it's possible to buy them from online sellers like Amazon – that way the next time a craving for Mexican pizza strikes, foodies can make their own and satisfy their hunger with the original.