Easy Mexican Food: The Sincronizada

This is (what intends to be) a new series for my occasional English readers. Why? Although this is a blog intended mainly for spanish speakers, there's always the need to expand our frontiers and show off a bit of our mexican culture... and maybe get some foreign knowledge in exchange, who knows? Anyhow, I've always been a fan of multicultural friendship, so I guess something like this was coming, anyway.

Also, this post shall celebrate the shining comeback of my digital camera... at last, vibrant-colored, non-copyright-infringent photos! Yay photos =D

Shall we begin?

How to make a Sincronizada.

The name "sincronizada" means, of course, "synchronized"; that is because you have to put together the ingredients in an uniform, "synchronized" way. I suppose it has a sort of hybridal origin, since it's more reminiscent of a sandwich, but it is mexican nonetheless. (Actually you don't need to know the ethymologies of food to prepare or eat it... sorry, this is a nerd speaking, okay? Let's proceed.)

The ingredients:

• Two tortillas, either corn or flour. (More about that later.)
  
• A slice of ham (or more if you'd like).
  
• Some cheese, of the variety you would use in a fondue. I tend to stick to Monterey Jack, a common kind in my hometown, soft and with a not-so-stringent flavor which allows for better flavor balance.
• Optionally, some salsa or other seasoning. Epazote (a-pah-sow-tea) is superb!

You'll also need some way to heat up the tortillas. Of course you can put them directly over the stove, but it'd be way better (and more mexican ;-) to use a comal (coe-mahl), which is basically a thin pan without walls.

All the weird-sounding things mentioned can be found in most stores selling mexican items. Supermarkets may carry them if there's a hispanic community in your area.

Preparation:

1. Heat up the tortillas. If using a comal or other pan, preheat it at full heat, lower to a medium heat when putting the tortillas on for best results.
   
2. In the meantime, get your other ingredients ready. Here I had a block of Monterey Jack cheese...
   
   ...that had to be cut up in not-so-even slices:
   
   Of course, always remember to not delay too much while doing this or shooting photos for your upcoming blog post about mexican food, so the tortillas won't get burnt. U_U'
   
3. Put the ham and cheese on one tortilla and top it off with the other tortilla - effectively creating a "sandwich".
   
   (Told you, they got burnt after all U_U...)
   
4. Put away from fire when the cheese is melting. (Yummy!) Add salsa, epazote or any other seasoning. Serve hot.
   
   Sincronizadas: part of a complete breakfast.
   
   

Serves one.
Preparation time: around 5 to 10 minutes (not counting the time to actually go buy the ingredients ^_^;)

This post is dedicated to my japanese friends Taka and Ayumi ^_^