Have ready 3 large, well-greased baking sheets. Stir the salt and fat into 1 cup of the water and keep stirring until the salt has dissolved and the butter melted. Put the crumbled yeast into a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the remaining water and work to a smooth cream with the back of a wooden spoon. Form the flour in a rough circle on your work surface, making a well in the center; pour the creamed yeast into it and begin to work in the surrounding flour, sprinkling the mixture with the salted, fatty water. Mix well and gather into a rough ball. Lightly flour the board and begin kneading until the dough comes to life and is smooth and elastic - about 3 minutes.

Roll the dough into a sausage shape about 2 inches in diameter and then cut with a plastic dough scraper into 25 pieces - if weighing, they should be just over 1 ounce each. Roll each piece of dough under your palms into a small ball about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the balls of dough about 2 inches apart on the greased trays. Smear the inside of your hands with more lard or butter and spread the outside of the balls with a light coating so that the outside skin of the dough will not dry out. Cover the trays with greased plastic wrap and set in a war place, about 75 - 80 F, to ferment and rise to about half their size again - about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 325 F. Again, lightly grease your hands and press each ball down firmly to make a circle of the dough about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. Cover with greased plastic wrap and set to rise at the same temperature for about 40 minutes. At the end of this time they will have risen slightly and be soft and puffy on top.

Bake, changing the trays from top to bottom of the oven halfway through the cooking time, until they are dry and crisp right through and a light biscuit color ~ about 1 1/4 hours.

The Art of Mexican Cooking From the collection of Jim Vorheis