Memelas are fried or toasted cake

Cake

Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...

s made of masa

Masa

Masa is Spanish for dough. In the Americas it is often short for masa de maíz, a maize dough made from freshly prepared hominy. It is used for making corn tortillas, tamales, pupusas, arepas and many other Latin American dishes. The dried and powdered form is called masa harina, masa de harina,...

topped with different fresh ingredients eaten as antojitos or snacks in the state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 which has its origins in Prehispanic food. They are similar to fresh corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 tortilla

Tortilla

In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...

s, but are somewhat fatter. Memelas are Oaxacan local name for the almost identical sopes and huaraches that are served in other parts of Mexico, just made with different toppings.

Memelas are best described as toasted Oaxacan little pizzas made of corn. The corn masa is flattened with a tortilla press then pinched to create indentations along its borders, then placed over a hot comal or griddle. When the tortilla like base is cooked and charred where the dough hits the hot metal of the grill, chewy as a medium-well steak, is then topped with black beans, salsa, shredded cabbage, mole

Mole (sauce)

Mole is the generic name for a number of sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces...

 negro, guacamole and cheese.

Although the traditional Memela is supposed to be topped with no other additional ingredients, today those toppings may vary from recipe to recipe. Modern incarnations include other vegetables and the option of a layer of tinga

Tinga

Tinga can be:* Tinga Stewart, Jamaican reggae singer* footballer Paulo César Tinga, of Sport Club Internacional* footballer Paulo Edson Nascimento Costa, commonly known as Tinga* footballer Luiz Otávio Santos de Araújo, commonly known as Tinga...

 (shredded chicken with tomatoes, onions and chiles) or potatoes and sausage.

Memelas have been served at Oaxacan/Mexican restaurants in the United States since the 1990s.

Other memelas

In El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, a memela is a thick and oval shaped tortilla.

In Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 and Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, a memela is a toasted cake

Cake

Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...

s made of masa

Masa

Masa is Spanish for dough. In the Americas it is often short for masa de maíz, a maize dough made from freshly prepared hominy. It is used for making corn tortillas, tamales, pupusas, arepas and many other Latin American dishes. The dried and powdered form is called masa harina, masa de harina,...

mixed with cinnamon and curdle, cooked in banana leaves.