Tortilla de Rescoldo is the Chilean campfire bread — a simple wheat-flour flatbread baked directly in the hot embers of a campfire, traditionally made by rural travelers and huasos. Listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste as a Chilean heritage food at risk of disappearing, it is one of the oldest and most primal Chilean breads.
Tortilla de Rescoldo (literally 'ember bread') is listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste as a Chilean heritage food at risk of disappearing. It is an unleavened wheat-flour flatbread, traditionally made by rural travelers (huasos, arrieros, miners) who cooked it directly in the hot embers (rescoldo) of a campfire — no oven, no pan, just dough and fire. The bread is flattened, placed on the hot embers, and covered with more embers. The result is a charred, smoky, dense flatbread that sustained generations of Chilean rural workers. It is one of the most primal Chilean cooking traditions.
A round, flat, dense bread, the surface charred and blistered from the embers, the inside soft and slightly smoky. Break it open; the crumb is dense and warm, with the unmistakable taste of wood smoke. Eat it with pebre or with a piece of cheese. It is the taste of a Chilean campfire, of the open road.
The dough is a simple flour-water-salt-lard mixture (no yeast — it relies on the rapid cooking in hot embers). It is shaped into a flat disc (about 1.5 cm thick), placed directly on hot embers, and covered with more embers. The bread cooks in 8-10 minutes — the embers bake it from both sides, giving the characteristic charred crust and smoky flavor. The dough should not be too thin (it would burn) or too thick (it would not cook through).
Variations
Some add lard or butter; some add herbs; some bake it in a pan if no fire is available; the thickness varies.
On the Palate
Where Tortilla de Rescoldo sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
9 steps · 30 min active + 30 min waiting
- 18 min
Make dough: mix 400 g flour, 1 tsp salt, 50 g lard, and enough warm water (about 200 ml) to make a firm dough.
- 215 min
Knead 5 minutes; rest 15 minutes.
- 35 min
Divide into 4 pieces; shape each into a flat disc (1.5 cm thick).
- 45 min
Build a campfire; let it burn down to hot embers.
- 52 min
Clear a patch of embers; place the discs directly on them.
- 62 min
Cover the discs with a thin layer of embers.
- 710 min
Bake 8-10 minutes, turning once, until charred and cooked through.
Watch outThe disc is done when the crust is charred and it sounds hollow tapped — bake it too thin and it burns, too thick and the center stays raw dough.
- 81 min
Brush off the ash; break open to check it's cooked.
Watch outBrush the ash off and break one open to check — the crumb should be dry and set all the way through, not gummy in the middle.
- 91 min
Serve warm with pebre or cheese.
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