At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Mexica or the Aztec, as they were commonly called, were the dominant people in Meso-America in 1519. The Spanish conquerors were avidly looking for gold and they found plenty of it, which they sent back to Spain.  However, when they reached the highlands of Mexico, they found a strange and gorgeous civilization and to their delight the most unusual of its glories was its food. A great deal of information has been preserved about what the ordinary Mexican Indians ate and how they prepared their food. 

The starting point was corn, the sacred plant of their religion. It supplied starch, the main energy source in the Indian diet, as well as protein and a little fat. Sometimes it was eaten green off the cob, either raw boiled or roasted, or the immature kernels were cut or scraped off to be made into cakes or added to other dishes. But more generally the Mexican Indians let their corn ripen and stored the ears in ventilated corncribs.

The Indians sometimes used a stone mortar and pestle to grind the hard whole kernels into meal out of which corn gruel (atole) was made, but this took a lot of effort. Far better was their system of heating the kernels in a mildly corrosive solution of lime until the skins came off. The skinless kernels were called nixtamal , an Aztec word still in use. Sometimes nixtamal was dried and stored, or it could be boiled in fresh, limeless water. When this was done the kernels swelled up enormously and became as soft as spaghetti resulting in a dish called pozole, one of the basic Indian ways to eat corn.

A more usual way of making nixtamal was to mash the soaked kernels into masa, a dough, to make tortillas. The ancient method can still be seen in some parts of Mexico. The Indian woman squats on the ground in front of a stone slab known as a metate. The woman puts a few handfuls of nixtamal on the flat surface and scrubs back and forth with a stoneroller. The product, masa, may be white, yellow or other colors according to the color of the corn but if it is intended for tortillas it has to have exactly the right consistency. She then takes a piece of masa as big as a golf ball between her wetted hands and - pat, pat, pat - flattens it into a round cake less than one eighth of an inch thick and six to eight inches in diameter. Cooking tortillas is easy. They are simply tossed on a hot griddle (comal) for 20 seconds, then turned over once for 20 seconds. Tortillas brown only slightly but develop a thin, tough skin on both sides. At times they puff up momentarily like soufflé potatoes.

Mexican cooking starts now as in the Aztec days with tortillas, the "bread of Mexico" and only those who have tasted them hot off the griddle know how good tortillas can be. Mexicans use them as plates, forks and spoons. They dip their tortillas into stews and use torn-off pieces to scoop up sauces. They can be eaten plain or with butter, beans or meat, chili or sauces…almost any kind of food that is not too liquid can be placed on a tortilla…the "bread of Mexico"!
Authentic cast iron tortilla press
Authentic cast iron griddle (comal)
White Wings and Maseca tortilla flour

Chemists at the U.S Department of Agriculture say the aroma of a tortilla is mostly due to 2-ameno-acephenone,a compound which develops when corn is soaked in lime water, the traditional treatment for producing corn masa. Food chemists have identified more than forty flavor compounds in tortillas, but 2-amino-acephenone was the hands-down winner as the most tortilla-like, as judged by a panel of government-appointed flavor smellers.
Bruce Henstell, Los Angeles Times, January 1995.

The Tortilla Industry Association (TIA) Survey, 2002

DALLAS, TX - The Tortilla Industry Association (TIA) has announced the findings of its biennial market research study, the State of the Tortilla Industry Survey: 2002, conducted by Aspex Research. Findings show that the tortilla's popularity has reached record heights, making this staple literally the best thing since sliced bread. Having cornered 32 percent of the sales for the U.S. Bread Industry, tortillas trail white bread sales by only two percent - making them the second most popular bread type in America with sales that far surpass those of whole wheat bread, bagels and rolls. Over the past two years, annual growth for the tortilla industry has expanded nine percent, with 2002, U.S. tortilla industry sales reaching $5.2 billion.

The rapid growth of the tortilla industry is attributed not only to the growing Hispanic population, but to increasing tortilla consumption among Non-Hispanics as well. Researchers estimate that the tortilla industry will grow to be a $6 billion industry by the year 2004.

In addition, tortillas are becoming more diversified, with innovative new sizes, packages and flavors. Tomato, spinach and jalapeno are some of the highest-selling varieties. From traditional Hispanic cooking to inventive wraps (recipes using flour tortillas with a wide variety of non-Hispanic fillings), the uses for tortillas are endless, creating variety and taste for consumers and profits for tortilla makers.
For consumer information, please visit: www.tortilla-info.com

CORN TORTILLAS RECIPE
We are all familiar with both the corn tortillas and the flour tortillas, but the original ones were of the native corn only, and except in Northern Mexico, corn tortillas remain the norm and the staple.

4 cups masa harina *
½ tsp. Salt
21/2 cups hot but not boiling water

*Masa harina (corn flour) can be purchased in most supermarkets. Quaker and Maseca brands are both excellent. If you are fortunate to have a specialty Mexican market nearby, you can purchase the masa dough freshly made and ready to press or roll out.

Place the masa harina and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and mix with your hands to make a dough that comes together in a soft ball. Continue mixing and kneading until the dough is elastic enough to hold together without cracking, about 3 minutes. If using right away, divide the dough into 18 equal portions and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. If making ahead for later use, wrap the whole ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day and then divide.

To form the tortillas, place a portion of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Press with a tortilla press or roll out with a rolling pin into a circle 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Use your fingers to smooth any raggedy edges. Continue with the remaining portions until the dough is used up.

To cook the tortillas, heat a heavy skillet, griddle or comal over high heat until it begins to smoke. Peel the plastic wrap off a tortilla and place the tortilla in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Turn again, and cook until the corn tortilla puffs a bit but is still pliable, not crisp, about 30 seconds more. Remove and continue until all the corn tortillas are cooked. Serve right away as this is when they are the best.

Maseca now offers an Instant Corn Masa Mix for corn tortillas, tamales, enchiladas, pupusas, atoles and other Mexican, Central and South Central dishes. A wonderful product where you simply add water. To purchase this product click here.

FLOUR TORTILLAS RECIPE
Flour tortillas made a late appearance on the Mexican table and became the bread staple in the northern states only. They are traditionally made with lard but for health reasons, tortilla factories and chefs have switched to vegetable shortening or vegetable oil.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil or shortening
1 cup warm water but not boiling

Combine the flour, salt, and shortening in a large bowl and mix together until crumbly, as for pie dough. Add water and mix until you can gather the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

To form the flour tortillas, divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion between the palms of your hands to make a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball into an 8 inch circle. Layer the circles between sheets of plastic wrap as you go.

To cook the flour tortillas, heat a heavy skillet, griddle or comal over high heat until beginning to smoke. Place a tortilla in the pan and cook for 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the other side until slightly puffed and speckled brown on the underside but still soft enough to fold, about 30 seconds. Remove and continue until all the flour tortillas are cooked, stacking them as you go. Serve right away or cool, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

White Wings La Paloma offers a Flour Tortilla Mix that is preferred by many Hispanic chefs and home cooks for simplicity. A quality product, just add water.
To purchase the White Wings Flour Tortilla Mix, click here
To purchase a tortilla press, click here.
To purchase a complete tortilla kit, click here.