The Etymology of Enchilada
Enchilada is a layered etymology.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ At the base sits Nahuatl chΔ«lli, the Aztec word for the chilli pepper, a cultivar that the Mesoamericans had been breeding for thousands of years before Spanish contact. Sixteenth-century Spaniards adopted the word as chile, and Mexican Spanish then built two derivatives: the verb enchilar (to season with chilli) and its feminine past participle enchilada, used substantively to mean a tortilla treated with chilli β that is, dipped in chilli sauce, rolled around a filling, and baked. The dish itself is colonial Mexican, fusing Indigenous tortilla and chilli traditions with Spanish baking and dairy. American English picked the word up around 1885 as Mexican cuisine spread across the south-western United States. The familiar phrase the big enchilada (the boss, the main thing) is much more recent β Nixon-era American slang from around 1971, made famous by the Watergate tapes.