Sopapilla / Frybread / Sopaipilla
noun | part of encyclopedia/cuisine
Pronounced: \saw-pah-pee-yah\ | IPA: /ˌsɔ paˈpi yɑ/
Definition of Sopapilla / Frybread / Sopaipilla
New Mexico style sopapillas are a variant of Native American frybread, though the term can refer to several fried dough pastries found throughout Latin American, in New Mexican cuisine it is a traditional Native American puffed flatbread with a relatively simple recipe that consists of four ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and oil or lard). Sopapillas are a bread dating back to the Long Walk of the Navajo to Bosque Redondo. Native Americans and Hispanics made the best of the meager rations afforded them by the US government, by stretching their ingredients. The fried dough has a pleasantly soft and fluffy texture, the fluffing of the dough also made from their flour rations seem more filling. They are usually served as a side bread or as a desert with honey; they can also be served as an entree called stuffed sopapillas; usually stuffed with meat, New Mexico chile (red/green), and cheese. Because the sopapilla is a traditional bread within New Mexico, it is often referred to as New Mexico’s most beloved delicacy.
see also: lexicon/new-mexican-cuisine
Examples of Sopapilla / Frybread / Sopaipilla
Origin of Sopapillas / Frybread / Sopaipilla
The sopapilla or frybread (spelled sopaipilla or torta fritas in Spanish) emerged in New Mexico during the American territorial period. Native Americans and Hispanos developed this bread out of necessity, working with the limited rations of flour, lard, and salt supplied by the United States government to reservations and to longstanding New Mexican communities after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Its deeper roots reach into the food traditions of the 1600s along the northern stretches of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, where similar breads appeared at the stops and in the kitchens that served travelers along the ancient trail. Observers in the early 1800s, including Zebulon Pike in his journals, already remarked on breads served with red chile.
It stands today as a favorite across New Mexico and the neighboring states of Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. This spread reflects the travels of Hispanos throughout the Southwest, the movements of Hopi and Navajo families between New Mexico and Arizona, and the connections that continue to link Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso with Isleta near Albuquerque. Texas even counted it among its state symbols from 2003 to 2005, a mark of its enduring affection there. Over time the distinction between sopapilla and frybread has grown clearer in practice. Sopapillas are typically square, while frybread usually takes a round form.
In restaurants today the bread takes several forms. It often closes the meal as a dessert, served with honey or sometimes dusted with powdered sugar. It also appears as a savory main course when stuffed with meats, chile, cheese, and vegetables. Another expression is the Indian taco (sometimes called the Navajo taco, Tewa taco, Apache taco, or similar names), where the bread serves as the base for beans, chile, meat, cheese, and vegetables.
The word sopapilla commonly refers to various torta fritas, or fried breads, doughnut-like pastries found across Latin America. Yet each carries its own distinct tradition, history, and taste.
First Known Use: 19th century
