Ever since I was a kid, I have always been given this food to eat which is called, "Gorda"
http://imageshack.us/a/img809/8664/gordaup.jpg
That is my photo that I took before I ate it. It is eaten in the ranchos of our pueblo of Huejuquilla El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico.
I am wondering if it originally came from Galicia, Spain? Because I have subscribed to the facebook page of Descruba Galicia. And at one point someone in that facebook posted a picture of the exact same thing that we eat called, "Gorda"
In other parts of Mexico I have never heard or seen the gorda that we eat in that format in my picture. I know that we have Gorditas in Mexico, but it does not have the format of the "gorda" that we eat in the ranchos of Huejuquilla like in my picture. Just to add more, in the ranchos we also dring "Atole Blanco" Which is a thick hot white flour drink.
What is the origin of this
To me, it looks like what folks from Jalpa, Zac refer to as a "gordita." The fillings varied, from only lard, to beans + lettuce + cheese and some kind of meat (and of course home-made chile!). I'm not sure of its origins, but remember that corn (and hence tortillas) is a native plant so Gordas/Gorditas probably originated in Mexico. As for Atole Blanco, we never added the "blanco" because that was the only type we ever had.
Both are pretty common in East LA and other parts of Southern California.
I've seen slight variations on these, such as the "sopes" (Gorditas) and "champurrado" (atole).