Torta De Arroz

This Torta de arroz recipe comes from a 1914 manuscript, part of an intimate collection documenting cookery in Durango, Mexico during the early twentieth century. Written by Susana de Sánchez Irazoqui and her family, these notebooks capture the deeply personal, generational cooking traditions of Mexican families at a time when social and political life was transforming quickly—think of it as Mexico's kitchen diary during the Revolution! The recipe reflects a blend of Old World (Spanish) techniques and New World adaptations, with European style rice puddings meeting local Mexican palates. Such 'tortas' were special occasion desserts, nourishing and celebratory, feeding extended family gathered around large tables.

The recipe was prepared using large earthenware or tin saucepans for simmering the rice and milk over a wood or coal-fired stove. Eggs were beaten with a hand whisk or a fork, often in a heavy ceramic or metal bowl—lots of muscle power required, especially for fluffing those egg whites! The cake would have been baked in a simple metal mold or a clay cazuela placed inside a traditional oven, perhaps fired by wood or charcoal. Cooks relied on their sense of timing and touch rather than a kitchen timer or thermometer. Serving was often rustic, directly from the baking dish, with a large serving spoon.