Corn Tortillas

I have fond food memories of freshly made corn tortillas! The first memory takes me back to a drive down the Baja Peninsula, about 50 miles south of the California border. My brother and another friend accompanied me as we drove south along the Pacific.  We stopped for a bite to eat before reaching our eventual destination of Ensenada. As we stepped into the restaurant, we knew instantly what to order – lobster burritos (hey, we were on the coast, in Mexico, and in our early twenties…so why not?). We were amazed when the food trays came to our table:

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I have fond food memories of freshly made corn tortillas! The first memory takes me back to a drive down the Baja Peninsula, about 50 miles south of the California border. My brother and another friend accompanied me as we drove south along the Pacific.  We stopped for a bite to eat before reaching our eventual destination of Ensenada. As we stepped into the restaurant, we knew instantly what to order – lobster burritos (hey, we were on the coast, in Mexico, and in our early twenties…so why not?). We were amazed when the food trays came to our table: a platter of lobster, freshly made beans, tomato salsa, avocados, rice, and of course, freshly made corn tortillas. Everything was terrific…even for our tastes, but those tortillas stood out. I can still smell them when I close my eyes and think about those times.

The next memory takes me back to Mexico…only this time, I’m in Puerto Vallarta. I was on holiday with some friends. None of us had a care in the world. Our mornings began with a stroll across the street to a tortilla factory, where they sold incredibly fresh tortillas for…well, pretty much nothing. It was the first time I ate tortillas in the morning, along with scrambled eggs and probably some fresh Queso Oaxaca (again, I was young).

My third standout memory takes me to an island in the middle of Puget Sound in the USA’s Pacific Northwest. My wife and I were camping with my brother and his wife, and we simply had to have tacos. So, we made grilled tacos over the open fire filling them with whatever we had on hand. The smell of toasted corn from the tortillas remains in my mind…and I hope it never leaves.

Making your own tortillas is simple, but you need to source masa harina, which should be easy to find if you are near a large city (or near Mexico). The flour is necessary because it has a distinctive flavor from soaking dried and finely milled corn kernels in a solution of calcium hydroxide (sounds dangerous, but it isn’t). Use either yellow or blue masa harina for this recipe.

Difficulty: simple
Yield: makes about 8-10 tortillas