Christmas Present Report - A Comal

Every cook in our family has a comal.  It's a heavy flat griddle-like pan that you put on the stove and use to heat tortillas, cook fresh tortillas, or even cook on.  I remember my grandmother turning hers on long before dinner to warm it up, and then keeping it on during every meal so that she could stand up and flip tortillas.  Hers is dark, heavy, and cast iron.  I don't know the weight, but it's heavy enough that I can't lift it with one hand.

My mom has an equally heavy comal.  In her house, we always put tortillas on there and melt some cheese, letting them become almost hard and tostada-shell like before taking them to the table and adding a meat or avocado or some other delicious filling.

For a few years, I have been using a lame aluminum comal.  The really good heavy ones are kind of hard to come by, and someone in the family gave me the one I have been using as a hand-me-down.  It is thin metal and doesn't hold any heat.  It was something I used because I didn't have anything else, but was not ideal.

Well, my grandmother really came through this Christmas.  She found a comal that she had that my godfather had made in the 40's.  I think that he was working at a foundry at the time.  I just can't even imagine him whipping out a comal while he was supposed to be actually working - that part cracks me up.  Anyway, it is a heavy, wonderful, 60-year old, seasoned comal.  The funny thing is that it is totally warped - it's not exactly straight by any means.  But it does the trick.  Once it is on the stove, it sits straight and maintains an excellent amount of heat for our tortillas. 

I have never really figured out the knack of heating tortillas during a meal - when grandma did it, she didn't ever really sit down for a long period.  So on nights that we are having tacos, you will often find both of us at the stove, making tortillas, filling tacos, and eating while standing up.  Grandma probably wouldn't approve, but it works for us!

Comments

[Dr. Biggles]

YAY for tortillas !!! I'd like to see some more shots of your rig, please? Crazy old cast iron cookware makes me giggle.
I have a handful of cast iron and thinner carbon steel things I use for warming tortillas. Or moisten a kitchen cloth towel, wrap up the tortillas and put in to warm oven for a bit. The dual burner cast iron griddle gets used to make fresh tortillas. Those are tough though, I don't do too often. They must PUFF up when flipped, or not right. A lot of work for 10 minutes of snarfing while standing in the kitchen. Ya know?

Biggles

[rache]

i have been wanting a comal for ages. how great that your grandma gave you one with such meaning! i think i may break down and buy one here: http://www.mexgrocer.com/9115.html .

[lb]

Oh, so it does have a name! A housemate in college had one and we all called it "the thing that warms the tortillas".

[Helen Gynell]

According to Diana Kennedy the thicker cast-iron comal does not cook as well as the thin aluminum (warping is unavoidable) which heats up faster and transmits the heat faster to the tamale (and probably why your grandmother had to leave hers on the heat). It seems hard to find anything but cast iron, but I am still looking (prefering this to a ceramic one). The one your godfather made sounds like it was thinner too. According to DK sometimes comals were fashioned out of the top of old oil drums. (Diana Kennedy, The Art of Mexican Cooking p. 11)

[Karla]

Hey Dr Biggles thank you for posting the website. I have been going crazy looking for an iron comal, a neighbor gave my mom one when we came to the USA. I bought one but it turned out to be a cheap little thing. Im so excited I can't wait to get my own!!