Using your hands to flip tortillas has always been normal.
I always wondered why people using tongs or any other device to flip tortillas was not normal. But the comal is super hot! Yes, that is very true, it is UBER hot. Every time I asked why do you use tongs to flip your tortillas? The reply would be, “Because I don’t want to burn my hands.” I guess that’s adequate. But to me, that answer was not enough. It has never been enough of an answer because it just is not true. Most of us are equipped with senses. Yes, we came out of the factory with senses to help us with things we cannot handle. If something is too heavy, then don’t lift it. Get help. If something is too hot, don’t touch it or wait for it to cool down.
Those rules don’t apply to tortilla flipping. They are neither too heavy or too hot to handle.
I felt the act of just using your own hands was very safe. Flipping tortillas with my hands were simple. After all, if it were too hot -too difficult, then nobody would do it. And again, if it were too hot for me, then I’d just let go as quickly as I touched it. Again, that’s what our senses are for – aren’t they?
My mother and her mother and her mother’s mother all did it. It wasn’t like there was a day that my mom said to me, “look mijo, there will come a day that you will have to flip your own tortillas and when that day comes, you better use your hands and your hands only for the cucui will come to get if you don’t!”
It was not a pre-requisite of growing up in a Mexican household or even working in a TACO TRUCK. My mother never taught us how to grab tortillas and flip them with our own hands. We simply just watched her over the years and thought it was something that we’d eventually have to do. So as the years went on, it just became second nature to do it. I thought it was normal!
But it isn’t normal!
Are you crazy? You are going to burn yourself. Why would you want to burn yourself? Those are some of the many remarks and questions I’ve had from bringing up this topic.
“Yes, I mean, NO, I’m not going to burn myself, and I’m not crazy!” Nobody ever wants to burn themselves, and certainly, no one wants to be labeled as crazy. Yet, I still continue to do it. I still continue to flip tortillas with my bare hands. “Yes, it’s normal to me.” I always reply.
It’s not about courage or bravery to use your own hands. Only a fool would believe in that. Putting yourself through pain only to demonstrate you can handle the heat is foolish! But some people do it for those reasons. And not just when it comes to flipping tortillas.
It’s about efficiency. Using a tool to get your tortillas and flip them takes too long. For those who say it’s just a second or two, then I’d say – or instead ask them, “When is the last time you complained your mobile device not loading photos to your Instagram account fast enough?” Yeah, it’s that slow!
It’s more symbolic than usual. Using your bare hands gets you closer to your senses. And your senses are key to your awareness. Being aware puts you in the center of the earth ’s, and it helps you to make better choices. Better choices lead to better tacos!
