Comal
The comal is a flat, round clay griddle set on three hearth stones and used to toast tortillas, roast seeds and warm tamales across Mexico and Guatemala. The word comes from Nahuatl comalli, and clay comales appear in Mesoamerican archaeological sites from the Classic period onward, showing the griddle's deep roots in the region's cooking. Colonial accounts describe the round hearth as the fixed centre of the household kitchen, the comal standing always over the fire beside the metate where maize was ground. Potters still shape comales by hand, and the clay version is prized because it gives t