Mexican-Style Flour Tortillas Recipe

[Photographs: Jillian Atkinson]

The flour tortilla is as ubiquitous in Northern Mexican delicacies as sourdough in San Francisco and as bagels in New York. It is a distinctly regional flatbread related to the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, and Sonora, one which owes its existence to a flip in agricultural historical past virtually 400 years in the past. In Sonora, white Sonoran wheat was first launched by a Spanish missionary named Padre Lorenzo de Cardenas someplace between 1640 and 1650. This wheat was made into masa, which was then shaped into the identical form as tortillas made out of corn. Ever since, wheat flour tortillas have been a staple in Northern Mexico and within the Southwest United States.

Like corn tortillas, flour tortillas are greatest when made contemporary day by day. A typical breakfast in Sonora consists of warmed flour tortillas alongside scrambled eggs and machaca (dried, pounded beef), whereas within the afternoon the tortillas is likely to be crammed with beans and folded right into a small burrito. My dad and mom grew up in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, and so they recall having fun with what are referred to as chivichangas, a type of small, griddled burrito, a contemporary flour tortilla wrapped round stewed or grilled meat. On their strategy to baseball video games they’d first cease at a restaurant throughout from the park for these “chivis,” which have been served with a facet of contemporary, crunchy greens like radishes and lettuce.

Regardless that flour tortillas are a staple of the delicacies, not each household makes them. For instance, my father’s household would purchase them from a neighbor who had arrange a comal to cook dinner pillowy, lard-laden tortillas for all of the neighbors. My mom’s dad and mom, then again, made most of their meals at house, together with flour tortillas. Alongside along with her 9 siblings, she’d assist her mom make the masa, type the dough into balls, and cook dinner them over a comal for the household. It’s a recipe that developed solely barely over time, and which she nonetheless makes immediately.

The Case for Making Flour Tortillas at House

Whereas habits are break up in Mexico between those that make their very own flour tortillas and those that purchase them, within the US it is extra clear minimize: Simply as most individuals right here go to a grocery retailer to purchase bagels or sourdough, in addition they not often, if ever, make contemporary flour tortillas from scratch. And whereas I might encourage anybody to delve into the world of sourdough, I feel there’s a way more compelling case for do-it-yourself flour tortillas, that are one of many best and most approachable sorts of bread you may make at house, with outcomes which are far superior to virtually something bought in American shops.

One cause for that is the quick ingredient checklist. In its most simple type, Northern Mexican tortillas are made out of flour, water, fats, and salt. You’ll by no means discover spinach tortillas or complete wheat tortillas in Northern Mexico as a result of these elements distract from the important flavors of the flour and fats. Even so, there are some small however necessary variations in the best way cooks put together them. For instance, my mom’s household makes use of milk for further richness and, thanks to take advantage of proteins and sugars, to assist the tortillas brown higher as they cook dinner. In addition they use a contact of sugar for a balanced sweetness since lard—the standard fats utilized in flour tortillas—may be very savory. Different tortilla-makers, nonetheless, will simply use water and omit sugar.

How We Examined This Recipe

For this recipe, I examined 15 totally different variations of the dough, trying to find a stability of custom and taste. I attempted swapping out lard for butter, but it surely produced tortillas with too robust of a dairy taste; I combined in just a little little bit of complete wheat flour, however, whereas tasty and a dream to roll out, the tortillas had a taste that was too removed from what I’ve come to anticipate; I attempted making the tortillas with precise white Sonoran all-purpose flour made by Hayden Mills, which was probably the most scrumptious and had an attractive golden hue, however requires a particular order; after which I experimented with totally different ratios of liquid to dry elements.

I additionally tried totally different sizes of tortillas (flour tortillas in Mexico are usually smaller than the large American variations), starting from six to eight inches, to search out one which I assumed was greatest for a variety of functions. That mentioned, you may make your personal tortillas bigger or smaller, as desired.

The Outcomes

In her e-book, The Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy describes observing contemporary flour tortillas being made at a restaurant in Hermosillo. It’s a peek into how some households nonetheless make their flour tortillas in Mexico, together with strategies I take advantage of in my recipe under. Right here is an excerpt:

“They rolled the dough into 2-inch (5-cm) balls and allow them to sit some time. To make the tortilla, they rolled and stretched the dough till it was translucent…Then they cooked it on a comal over a sizzling wooden fireplace. After a couple of seconds it ballooned up and needed to be flattened again onto the comal. They flipped it over, just some seconds extra, after which stacked it on high of the others, wrapped up in a fabric to maintain them moist and heat. The recipe they gave me was “a handful of lard to a kilo of flour, salt, and water. Sizzling water if the climate was chilly; chilly water if the climate was sizzling.”

What I landed on was one thing much like Kennedy’s findings and my mom’s household recipe. You do not want a comal or a reside fireplace to make my tortillas (although I hope to put in writing that recipe sooner or later); all you want is a forged iron skillet and your stovetop burner.

In a nod to my grandparents’ recipe, I name for heat milk as a substitute of water due to the richness it provides and the improved browning the milk solids and sugars encourage. The temperature of the milk is necessary—you need it at about 125°F (50°C)—to assist the dough’s pliability for shaping and rolling. I discover it is best to verify the temperature of the milk with a thermometer.

As for the dough itself, my recipe requires lard because the fats element. Whereas it’s typically swapped out with Crisco or vegetable shortening, lard delivers a refined however necessary animal taste to the tortillas. Along with the all-purpose flour within the dough, I add a contact of baking powder for tortillas which are mild and ethereal. I additionally add just a little sugar—not a lot—for only a little bit of sweetness to counter the deep savory notes of the lard.

Rolling out the dough is maybe the trickiest a part of this recipe, however with persistence and observe you may get higher. It’s necessary to maintain rotating the dough after every roll to make sure a good round form. It is equally necessary to flip the dough and evenly flour it each a number of turns or so to maintain it from sticking to the work floor.

It’s additionally crucial to roll to simply earlier than the sting of the dough and never utterly previous it; this helps hold the form whilst nicely. I prefer to cook dinner the tortillas one after the other as they’re rolled out for effectivity, however you’ll be able to roll all of them out first after which cook dinner them after that.

Cooking the tortillas is fast and straightforward: You simply want to take care of a balanced warmth that’s robust sufficient to evenly blister and brown the tortillas in spots however will not char or burn them. As quickly as every tortilla is cooked, switch it to a wrapper—a fabric towel, tortilla holder, plastic wrap–lined platter, or zipper-lock bag—to maintain it from drying out and changing into brittle.