Flour Tortillas Are Authentic Mexican Cuisine
The Mexican Minute with A Gringo in Mexico - EPISODE 1
The Mexican Minute with A Gringo in Mexico
EPISODE 1: Flour Tortillas
Hey everyone! This is Scott Koenig, and bienvenido to the very FIRST episode of The Mexican Minute with A Gringo in Mexico. In this series of short videos, I’ll talk about Mexican cuisine and also demystify some malignant misconceptions about one of the world’s greatest gastronomies. From edible insects to Mexican street food, this is The Mexican Minute. Let’s begin with flour tortillas.
I’ve seen one too many Facebook posts where a fellow gringo smugly declares that tortillas de harina are a Tex-Mex construct and ONLY eaten by other gringos. NOT TRUE! While corn tortillas, which date back to pre-Hispanic culture, are common throughout Mexico, in northern states such as Sonora, Chihuahua and Coahuila, flour tortillas have ruled since the 16th century Spanish invasion. It’s tough to grow corn in these hot, arid places, but wheat, not so much. It’s uncertain whether it was the Jewish or Moorish populations of Northern Mexico who rolled out the first flour tortilla to feed their leavened traditions. But they ARE certainly enjoyed on both sides of the US-Mexico border. From giant Sonoran sobaqueras – aptly named as they stretch from one’s fingers to one’s armpit, or sobaquera – to the soft, pliable flour tortillas served with Puerto Nuevo style lobster in Baja California, flour tortillas are indeed one of Mexico’s AUTHENTIC culinary traditions.
Stay tuned for future episodes of The Mexican Minute with A Gringo in Mexico and make sure you hit the YouTube SUBSCRIBE button, so you don’t miss a single delicious morsel. Provécho!
Do you live in Baja? If you are on Facebook do you belong to the group Talk Baja ??? It’s a great site! We’ve been going to Sonora and Baja Norte every year for about the last 15 years. I loved your photo of the little fishing village at Popotla! We stay on the cliff above at the Popotla Mobile Home park when we are in the area. Do you go to Baja Sur? It’s wonderful! On the mainland the furthest south we have been is San Carlos/Hermosillo area (Sonora) as we didn’t realize we needed to get a VISA at the northern border! Nice web site! What kind of problems are you have due to the Covid?
Hi Betty! Yes, I am a member of Talk Baja. I don’t live there, though — I’m in San Diego but we treat Baja California as our backyard. I report on food and occasionally operate culinary tours of Tijuana, Ensenada, Tecate and especially the Valle de Guadalupe, which I’ve been visiting since 2012. I wrote a book about the wine country, in fact – Seven Days in The Valle. We also travel to Baja Sur every year for two weeks of vacation. Love it! Since COVID, I’ve been sticking close to home. Haven’t been to Baja since early February and I really miss it. Thanks for your comment and stay safe and well!
Desperate for your flour-tortilla-fix in San Diego? I think the lineup of patrons waiting for flour tortillas at Pancho Villa market on El Cajon Blvd speaks for itself. Because you waited, your batch will be hot off the griddle, and, hence, you have about 15 minutes in which to get them home, get them out of the plastic bag, separate them and lay ’em out on fresh clean kitchen towels so they “breathe” a bit. Otherwise they fuse together in the bag because of their freshness. That’s right: these are San Onofre-meltdown fresh. A flour tortilla can be too fresh! After they calm down, it’s ok to put them back in a plastic bag if, in fact, you haven’t eaten most of them already.
I’m on the case! Thanks for the recommendation Peter…that sounds great!