Memelitas with Asiento (Oaxacan Corn Cakes with Pork Lard Residue)

History & Origin

Memelitas con asiento are perhaps the most representative street food snack of Oaxaca city and the Central Valleys markets. The key to their flavor lies in the asiento: the dark, concentrated residue that settles at the bottom of the pot when lard is rendered. This byproduct of artisanal butchery has an intensely savory flavor — a combination of crackling and caramelized lard — that Oaxacans have elevated to a gastronomic ingredient of the first order. Memelitas — the name derives from the Nahuatl word 'memela', meaning flattened masa — are slightly thicker tortillas than normal, cooked on a clay comal over a slow flame. Once ready, they are generously spread with asiento whilst still hot so that it impregnates the masa, then finished with pot-cooked black beans, Oaxacan salsa and crumbled fresh cheese. At the Benito Juárez market in Oaxaca city, the asiento ladies prepare memelitas from dawn, drawing a queue of diners who consider them the finest possible breakfast. The recipe is among the simplest in the Oaxacan repertoire, but demands the highest quality local ingredients.