Oaxacan memelas: what they are and how to make them

What is it?

Memelas are one of the most representative antojitos of Oaxacan cooking, present in markets, tianguis and fondas of the Central Valleys, the Sierra Sur and the Mixteca. They are made with fresh nixtamalised maize masa — ideally of native maizes such as bolita, conical or sangre de Cristo — shaped into a round, thin form (12-15 cm in diameter), barely thicker than a normal tortilla but clearly differentiated. They are cooked on a clay comal and lightly pinched at the edge to form a small plate. The signature of the dish is the 'asiento', the solid sediment left when rendering pork lard, a fundamental pre-Hispanic-colonial ingredient in Oaxaca. On the hot memela, asiento is spread generously, then refried black beans with avocado leaf, red or green molcajete salsa, quesillo (Oaxaca cheese) or crumbled fresh cheese, chopped onion, coriander and avocado. Gudó Magazine and Masienda document them as an essential antojito of traditional Oaxacan cooking, a close sibling of the tlayudas but smaller and more rustic.

Origin and history

Memelas have a clear pre-Hispanic origin and are one of the oldest antojitos of the Oaxacan repertoire. The word 'memela' comes from the Nahuatl 'memelatl' or 'tlatlazoyo', meaning 'thick tortilla for serving'. They are documented in colonial codices and chronicles such as that of Fray Francisco de Burgoa (seventeenth century), who describes the Zapotec and Mixtec kitchens of the Oaxacan valleys including 'thick tortillas with lard and chilli'. Oaxaca Rifa and Gudó Magazine gather the oral tradition of memelas as an antojito of the Zapotec peoples of the Tlacolula Valley, where they have been a daily food for centuries. After the conquest, the incorporation of pork lard — and especially of asiento, which is the solid residue when melting lard — enriched the dish and gave it its characteristic richness. The industrialisation of maize masa has not displaced traditional memelas: in Oaxaca the culture of artisanal nixtamal on metate and hand remains alive, and the cooks of the 20 de Noviembre, Benito Juárez and Sánchez Pascuas markets in Oaxaca de Juárez preserve family recipes inherited from great-grandmothers. Masienda, an important distributor of Mexican maize in the United States, has popularised Oaxacan memelas as a reference of ancestral cooking.

Characteristic ingredients

The optimal masa is of fresh nixtamalised maize, ideally ground on a metate or hand mill, made with native Oaxacan maizes (bolita, conical, sangre de Cristo or cajete). It is hydrated only with water, without added salt in the masa, so the comal and the chilli provide all the flavour. Balls of masa of 60-80 g are formed, flattened in a press or between the hands to 4-5 mm thick — barely thicker than a normal tortilla — and cooked on a very hot clay comal for 2-3 minutes per side, without browning too much. Immediately on turning, the edge of the memela is lightly pinched with the fingers to form a small plate that holds the toppings. The asiento, the distinctive hallmark, is the solid residue left when rendering pork lard: when the lard is cooked over a low heat, the solids of the fatty tissue separate and give that creamy, golden residue, with an intense chicharrón flavour. It is spread abundantly over the hot memela. On top is added refried black bean with avocado leaf, molcajete salsa (red with guajillo chilli or green with tomatillo and Oaxacan pasilla chilli), shredded quesillo or fresh cheese, finely chopped onion, coriander and slices of avocado. Variants: memela with tasajo (dried beef), with Oaxacan chorizo, with squash blossom, with epazote.

Cultural significance

Memelas are one of the identity antojitos of Oaxaca, the state with the greatest gastronomic diversity in Mexico. The 2010 UNESCO declaration of traditional Mexican cuisine — the Michoacán paradigm — recognises Oaxaca as one of the most significant regions of the national corpus. Memelas, together with tlayudas, Oaxacan tamales, black mole and water chocolate, make up the everyday repertoire of the Valley of Oaxaca. The Oaxaca Secretariat of Culture and Tourism includes memelas in its official gastronomic catalogue. In the 20 de Noviembre market and the cooks' area of Tlacolula, the family memela stalls are living intangible heritage: many families have been at the same place for four or five generations. Economically, memelas sustain thousands of family microbusinesses of Zapotec, Mixtec and Oaxacan women. In popular culture they appear in regional novels, cookbooks such as those of Patricia Quintana, Diana Kennedy and Pilar Cabrera, and in programmes such as Netflix Street Food: Latin America (2020), which devoted an episode to Oaxaca and showed the memela makers of the city. Chefs such as Olga Cabrera, Alejandro Ruiz (Casa Oaxaca) and Pilar Cabrera (Casa de los Sabores) have included them in their restaurants as an example of popular cooking elevated to fine gastronomy.

Frequently asked questions