Fried Cornmeal Porridge Cakes in the Style of Gascony

Cornmeal first appeared in the Southwest in the sixteenth century, when corn was brought back from the New World by Basque sailors. It grew well in this region, as did other New World vegetables such as tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers, and beans. I was particularly struck by this dependence on American ingredients when a young Basque in the town of Espelette told me about a flat cornmeal and flour pancake that his mother used to make, called a taloa. This pancake, about five inches in di