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!
