In North America, a corn tortilla or just tortilla (, Spanish: [toɾˈtiʝa]) is a type of thin, unleavened flatbread, made from hominy, that is the whole kernels of maize treated with alkali to improve their nutrition in a process called nixtamalization. A simple dough made of ground, dried hominy, salt and water is then formed into flat discs and cooked on a very hot surface, generally an iron griddle called a comal.
A similar flatbread from South America, called an arepa (though arepas are made with ground maize, not hominy, and are typically much thicker than tortillas), predates the arrival of Europeans to America, and was called tortilla by the Spanish from its resemblance to the traditional Spanish round, unleavened cakes and omelettes (originally made without potatoes, which are native to South America). The Aztecs and other Nahuatl-speakers call tortillas tlaxcalli ([t͡ɬaʃˈkalli]). The successful conquest of the Aztec empire by the Spanish and the subsequent colonial empire ruled from the former Aztec capital have ensured that this variation become the prototypical tortilla for much of the Spanish-speaking world.
Maize kernels naturally occur in many colors, depending on cultivar: from pale white, to yellow, to red and bluish purple. Likewise, corn meal and the tortillas made from it may be similarly colored. White and yellow tortillas are by far the most common, however. In Mexico, there are three colors of maize dough for making tortillas: white maize, yellow maize and blue maize (also referred to as black maize).
