Don’t Rap Wraps

I was deeply distressed to read Hugo Martin’s “Death to Wraps” (March 4). As an Asian American, I disagree that any food in a tortilla is a copy of his beloved burrito.

What is Chinese moo shoo pork inside of flat Chinese pancakes (which are not unlike tortillas)? Even the egg or spring roll? Not to mention other cultures’ versions of food wrapped in flat bread. All around the world, food and cultures mimic each other. The Mexican burrito is not alone in the world of round hand-held foods.

I do agree that fast-food purveyors’ idea of a wrap is essentially a burrito, but the restaurants specializing in wraps are much more. Many of the wraps are healthy and low in fat and also fast, delicious and varied compared with a burrito. From Indian curries to Italian chicken sausage with paella, wraps deserve credit for an innovative new form of eating.

ATHENA CYMROT-LEONG

West Los Angeles

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Please don’t throw out all wraps! We love the lavash wraps from Father Nature’s Lavash Wraps in Old Pasadena.

I have been eating this type of sandwich since I was a child (born in L.A. and of Armenian descent). We always had fresh lavash. My mother’s sister had a bakery in the Flats (East L.A.) in the ‘20s until the early ‘70s. My favorite sandwich: Butter a large rectangle and cover it with two sliced, not-too-softly boiled eggs and fresh basil, salt and pepper. It was heavenly! Lavash is always eaten with string cheese, wrapped.

I like burritos and agree with you that the wrap fad is just another version of serving a burrito. Calling them a wrap is a way of taking advantage of a new name for the same old thing, which we weren’t tired of anyway.

The wrap and the burrito are as old as the making of bread or tortillas. People have always wrapped food in these breads. The article was right on--but don’t throw out my lavash wrap!

HELENE BEDROSIAN

Granada Hills