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comal

American  
[koh-mahl, kaw-mahl] / koʊˈmɑl, kɔˈmɑl /

noun

  • comals,
    plural
  • comales
    plural
  1. a griddle made from sandstone or earthenware.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of comal

1835–45, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl comālli

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Murals on side streets depict women cooking tortillas on a comal and musicians playing guitar and accordion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026

Rather than portray such a violent scene, Nava shows Rosa arriving at her mother’s comal and finding it full of white butterflies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025

Heat up a comal or skillet over medium heat, then toast the pasilla chiles for about 1 to 2 minutes, flipping with tongs as they toast.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2023

But the most impressive product of the comal choricero is the chopped suadero, which ends up very smooth and tender, with a mild flavor that is closer to veal than to, say, carne asada.

From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2022

I study the tortillas as they heat on the comal and try to flip them before they burn.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

To build the kitchen and three comales for this meal, for example, she gathered adobe bricks and wet clay from her hometown, San Mateo Yucutindoo, in the mountains outside Oaxaca City.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2021

“We tried to lay out the adobe bricks and the comales in a way that felt like you were in your grandmother’s kitchen in a garden,” Garcia said.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2021

And while the tacos are the stars here, Fuentes and his cooks shower the same amount of attention onto the consomé, a smoky, brothy goat soup served up from a furtive crock behind the comales.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2019

He is rightly protective of his recipes, but admits that one secret ingredient are the two comales he imported from Mexico.

From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2019

Foods like frijoles and papas, clothing, plows, tools, nails, machetes, ropes, leather goods, baskets, comales for the toasting of tortillas and such, cleaning rags, buckets, and jeans jeans jeans, which have taken over.

From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads

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