Gryphon's Aeire Food Fact - Tortilla

Nothing stacks up to fresh taste of homemade tortillas
By Jennifer Viegas
Special to the San Jose Mercury News

The warm, comforting smell of homemade tortillas, coupled with their 
wonderfully fresh taste, has always been soothing and satisfying. 
They were a mainstay of my childhood diet because I was one of those 
picky eaters. I remember hoarding the pats of wrapped butter at 
restaurants and saving them to spread on my tortillas at home. Today, 
I'm a more adventurous diner (though I still like to save restaurant 
butter pats), but my love for homemade tortillas remains.

Tortillas are just as enjoyable to make as they are to eat. Unlike 
some types of baking dough, where one mistaken measurement can mean 
disaster, tortilla dough is very forgiving. There are two basic types 
of dough: masa for corn tortillas and flour dough for flour tortillas.

Masa, meaning ``dough,'' has been around since well before the Aztec 
empire, and corn tortillas have fed and nourished countless 
generations since. Flour tortillas are a more recent invention, 
dating to the arrival in 1519 of the Spanish, who introduced the 
locals to wheat flour. That's one reason flour tortillas are most 
often used in Tex-Mex dishes such as fajitas, while corn tortillas 
are reserved for more traditional cuisine, like soft tacos.

Masa begins as nixtamal, large kernels of corn traditionally grown 
from heirloom varieties. The kernels are then soaked in a solution of 
water and lime (the mineral, alkali calcium hydroxide, not the 
fruit), which changes the texture of the corn. (Originally, the 
Aztecs used a solution of water and ashes.) The soaking process also 
makes the vitamins and minerals present within the corn more readily 
available to our metabolism. Once ground, nixtamal becomes masa.

Though masa is used to prepare many types of food, including tamales 
and corn cakes, it is most often made into corn tortillas. Fresh masa 
is available at Mexican groceries and many large supermarkets. It 
usually comes wrapped in plastic and formed into a large roll, like 
cookie dough.

I prefer fresh masa for making homemade tortillas because it usually 
has superior texture and flavor, but if you can't find it, look for 
masa harina, or flour, in the baking or Latin food section of your 
market. These days, even such chain stores as Wal-Mart carry masa 
harina. It needs only to be mixed with water.

Once you have your dough, you'll need to decide how to form your 
tortillas: by hand, with a press or by rolling out the dough, the 
method used for making flour tortillas.

If you've been to Mexico or gone behind the scenes at a good Mexican 
restaurant, you probably have observed -- or heard -- tortillas being 
made by hand.

First, dampen your hands lightly. Then, pinch off a golf ball-size 
round of dough. Pat the dough with your palms into a flat disk and 
then clap it from one palm to another, rotating the dough about 90 
degrees with each clap, until you have a 5-inch disk. Though this 
method takes a bit of practice, you'll be able to move quickly once 
you get a rhythm going.

The second, and easiest, way to make corn tortillas is with a 
tortilla press. You can find them in gourmet shops, Latin groceries, 
online and at stores like Cost-Plus or Sur La Table, which sell 
specialty cooking equipment. Look for heavy, metal presses with 
sturdy hinges. To use, place one of two cut sheets of wax paper on 
the bottom of the open press. Put the dough on top and cover it with 
the other sheet of wax paper. Close the press, then open it and peel 
off the formed tortilla. I prefer wax paper to plastic wrap because 
it does not tear so easily.

The final method, also used for making flour tortillas, is to roll 
out the dough. Since it helps to begin with a circle shape, I like to 
first wrap the dough in wax paper and form a cylinder. That makes it 
easy to cut circles from either end. Be sure to dust your work 
surface and rolling pin with flour. The dough tends to stick less on 
unvarnished wood than other surfaces, but if you don't have such a 
surface in your kitchen, roll the dough out between two sheets of wax 
paper until it's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and 8 inches in diameter.

To cook corn or flour tortillas, place the formed tortilla on a hot, 
ungreased Mexican comal , on a skillet or a flat cast-iron pan. (It 
is better to use a well-seasoned cast-iron or metal surface than a 
non-stick pan because most non-stick coatings cannot withstand high 
temperatures for long periods of time.) When the edges of the 
tortilla begin to dry, flip it and cook for a minute. Flip once more 
and cook 30 seconds longer.

Homemade tortillas often puff up while cooking, but don't worry. 
They'll deflate back to their traditional shape. Besides, that 
puffing is the sign of a well-made tortilla.


Displayed on: Thursday - 24 May 12 - 05:38:28