Recipe Manuscript

Sopa De Tortilla

Name: Sopa De Tortilla
Prep time: PTPT20M
Cook time: PTPT35M
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cloves garlic (plus 1 extra for finishing); 1 medium white onion; 4 medium ripe tomatoes; 200 grams chard leaves; 150 grams calves’ brains (or 150 grams silken tofu/mushrooms as substitute); 2–3 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil); 750 ml beef or chicken stock (caldo de puchero); 6–8 corn tortillas; Salt to taste

"Tortilla Soup"

1900

From the treasured pages of Mexican Cooking Notebook of Traditional and Original Mexican Recipes

Unknown Author

Age of Gastronomy (1800 - 1900)American Intermediate Lunch Dinner

Original Recipe • 1900

Original Manuscript(circa Age of Gastronomy, 1800 - 1900)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

Sopa De Tortilla

"Se hace el caldillo con ajo cebolla y jitomate picado y acelga cosida y picada se echan pedacitos de sesos cosidos se cortan en cuadritos se dora en manteca y se echa en el caldillo a que se cuesa esta a de quedar caldos y para bajarse se le echa a este se machaca un ajo y se frie y se le echa un pedasito de jitomate y cebolla picada mui menudita se frie en manteca y ya que esta bien frito se le echa caldo de puchero segun el tanto que sea de sopa se corta la tortilla en cuadritos."

English Translation

"The broth is made with garlic, onion, and chopped tomato, and cooked and chopped chard. Pieces of cooked brains are added, which are cut into small cubes, fried in lard, and then put into the broth to cook. This should remain brothy, and to finish, a garlic clove is mashed and fried, then a piece of tomato and very finely chopped onion are added, and all is fried in lard. Once well fried, puchero broth is added according to how much soup is being made, and the tortilla is cut into small cubes."

Note on the Original Text

This recipe, like most in early 20th-century Mexican cookbooks, reads as a continuous stream without measured quantities or clear steps, assuming the reader’s familiarity with basic preparations and proportions. Spellings reflect colloquial Spanish of the era (‘jitomate’ for tomato, ‘cosida’ for cocida/boiled) and omit modern punctuation. Reading these instructions, one must fill in many knowledge gaps—a delightful challenge for those wanting to cook like our ancestors!

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

Mexican Cooking Notebook of Traditional and Original Mexican Recipes - Click to view recipe in book

Title

Mexican Cooking Notebook of Traditional and Original Mexican Recipes (1900)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Unknown

Era

1900

Publisher

Unknown

Background

A delightful journey through the flavors of Mexico, this notebook brims with both traditional and original recipes—from sopa de chile to sangria—inviting you to savor the vibrant tastes and inventive spirit of Mexican home cooking at the turn of the century.

Kindly made available by

University of Texas at San Antonio

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This sopa de tortilla hails from a handwritten Mexican cookbook from around 1900, a time when home cooks blended indigenous ingredients like chiles, tortillas, and wild greens with Spanish-introduced ingredients such as beef and lard. Significantly, this recipe showcases everyday ingenuity: tortillas—already a kitchen staple—are recycled into hearty soups, demonstrating zero-waste cooking popular across Mexican households. The inclusion of brains was not only an economical way to use the whole animal but also marks the dish as special and nutritious by historic standards.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

Cooks in 1900s Mexico prepared this soup over a wood- or charcoal-fired stove (comal or fogón) using clay or heavy metal pots for simmering the soup and frying pans for crisping the tortillas. A stone molcajete would be used to mash garlic. Simple knives and wooden spoons rounded out their kitchen arsenal. Today the same processes are efficiently translated to modern stovetops, nonstick pans, and blenders for those preferring little shortcuts.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Servings

We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic (plus 1 extra for finishing)
1 medium white onion
4 medium ripe tomatoes
7 ounces chard leaves
5.3 ounces calves’ brains (or 5.3 ounces silken tofu/mushrooms as substitute)
2–3 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil)
3 1/4 cups beef or chicken stock (caldo de puchero)
6–8 corn tortillas
Salt to taste

Instructions

Start by making a flavorful broth: sauté 2 cloves of garlic, 1 medium white onion (both finely chopped), and 3 medium ripe tomatoes (also chopped) in 2 tablespoons of lard or vegetable oil.
Add 7 ounces of chard leaves, previously boiled and finely chopped.
Separately, gently poach 5.3 ounces of calves’ brains (or substitute with silken tofu or mushrooms for a modern twist), dice them, then fry in lard until lightly golden.
Add the diced brains to the tomato-chard broth and simmer softly so the mixture stays brothy.
In a separate pan, mash 1 garlic clove, fry it in lard with 1 small tomato (diced) and a little finely chopped onion until well cooked.
Pour in about 3 1/4 cups of beef or chicken stock (traditionally, 'caldo de puchero') according to the number of servings desired.
Finally, cut 6–8 corn tortillas into small squares, fry until crisp, and add to the soup just before serving to keep some texture.

Estimated Calories

290 per serving

Cooking Estimates

Preparing this soup involves chopping and sautéing vegetables, boiling and chopping chard, cooking and dicing brains (or tofu/mushrooms), and frying tortillas. The actual cooking doesn’t take too long once everything is prepped. Each serving has a moderate number of calories, so it makes a comforting but not too heavy meal. The recipe serves about 4 people.

As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.

We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.