Tortillas

Tortillas plays a fundamental role in Mexican food. It not only finds a central place in every meal, but it also defines dishes like quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, many other dishes Mexicans call antojitos. 

Just as connoisseurs of great pasta or bread insist on an artisanal product, Mexicans seek out the best tortillas. In Oaxaca there are three different sizes, ranging from small white blonditas to giant, wafer-thin tlayudas. The finest of these are tortillas a "mano", handmade tortillas. Tortillas in Mexico almost always mean corn tortillas vs. North America, flour tortilla are more popular. My mother was  an expert flour tortilla maker, I think back how she would barter with our American neighbors for freshed baked goods. Of course that was before quality store bought tortillas were avaialbe.
 

Making your own corn tortillas at home is  easy, if you shop at Mexican market,  and buy fresh masa para tortillas and pressing it out between two sheets of waxed paper with a small rolling pin or a hand tortilla press. The tortillas are then cooked dry on a hot "comal" or frying pan until they brown on both sides and puff slightly.

 

But if making your own tortillas is not in the picture, don't despair. Commercial corn tortillas can be very good. Look for the whitest ones (which indicate less lime used in processing the corn and, hence, a more delicate flavor), and make sure that they are fresh.

 

My fondest memories, is my grandmother making "gorditas", a thick corn torilla cooked over the comal, stuffed with eggs or butter. ~Que sabroso~