# Corn or Flour Tortillas



## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

After living in Central America for the past few years I have grown to despise strongly flavored corn tortillas along with rice and beans. I swear I never want to eat rice/beans or corn tortillas again as long as I live. Even the Mexican restaurants in CA seem to carry only corn tortillas. Honestly, I miss the "fake" Mexican food  I find in the US and I just can't seem to remember eating tortillas much on my visits to Mexico so was wondering how hard it is to find plain ol' flour tortillas in Mexico?


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It is easy in the larger grocery stores. Have no fear, but after what you have said, you might want to cross the street whenever you spot a tortilla shop.


----------



## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

For the longest time, meaning decades, I too disliked the corn tortillas we purchased along the border and in areas of Mexico. Flour tortillas or nothing, unless it was a hard shell taco. Then I met the love of my life, nearly the same day I met my wife .
Hand made corn tortillas. My wife has discovered my love and has nearly banned them from my life, something to do with making clothes shrink or something like that. 
I still have an occasional fling with my love, a hand made corn tortilla, and would chose it any day over a flour tortilla...under my wife´s watchful eye.


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

tepetapan said:


> . . . occasional fling with my love, a hand made corn tortilla, and would chose it any day over a flour tortilla. . . .


Those that haven't tasted a "tortilla al mano" have not tasted a tortilla. There is no comparison.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

As you go further north in Mexico, wheat tortillas become more common. In Sonora, they are the default.

I like both, but usually eat corn tortillas because:
One corn tortilla has about 50 calories including about 1.5 grams of fat
One wheat tortilla has about 150 calories including 4 grams of fat


----------



## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

Oh, yes, all the corn tortillas I ate in CA are all made by hand. One of our maids even taught me to make them.... which I became pretty good at!

What I dislike so much is the corn flavor is so strong! I want to taste the food inside, not the tortilla.


----------



## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

So in restaurants you can have to option of either most of the time?


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

kito1 said:


> So in restaurants you can have to option of either most of the time?


I don't know about most of the time, but certainly some of the time. Quesadillas are typically made with wheat tortillas.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> Those that haven't tasted a "tortilla al mano" have not tasted a tortilla. There is no comparison.


I'm in complete agreement with that statement. The best ones I've had so far were in a little restaurant in Malinalco whose menu featured trout, but the tortillas were what made the meal for me!


----------



## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

kito1 said:


> Oh, yes, all the corn tortillas I ate in CA are all made by hand. One of our maids even taught me to make them.... which I became pretty good at!
> 
> What I dislike so much is the corn flavor is so strong! I want to taste the food inside, not the tortilla.


Could be that the corn for those tortillas had too strong a solution of "_cal_" in which to soak. Or the masa was made from masa harina, ("Maseca", for example.) not from fresh masa.

Here are some of the best _tortillas de maíz _ever, at La Mesa de Blanca, in Ziracuaretiro, Michoacán. That's _carnitas_ on the tortillas.


----------



## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

*Quesadillas*



TundraGreen said:


> I don't know about most of the time, but certainly some of the time. Quesadillas are typically made with wheat tortillas.


That is true NOB. But most of the quesadillas I've had in Central México were made from corn.
https://picasaweb.google.com/doncuevas/QuesadillasYTlacoyosColoniaRomaNorteMexicoDF


----------



## DNP (May 3, 2011)

kito1 said:


> After living in Central America for the past few years I have grown to despise strongly flavored corn tortillas along with rice and beans. I swear I never want to eat rice/beans or corn tortillas again as long as I live. Even the Mexican restaurants in CA seem to carry only corn tortillas. Honestly, I miss the "fake" Mexican food  I find in the US and I just can't seem to remember eating tortillas much on my visits to Mexico so was wondering how hard it is to find plain ol' flour tortillas in Mexico?


I miss the corn tortillas from CA, especially the thick, fat ones, and I miss the rice and beans too, along with los tamales de elote. Yum!

Sent from my iPod touch using ExpatForum


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Anonimo said:


> That is true NOB. But most of the quesadillas I've had in Central México were made from corn.
> https://picasaweb.google.com/doncuevas/QuesadillasYTlacoyosColoniaRomaNorteMexicoDF


I don't order them much any more, but my recollection is that wheat is common in Guadalajara. I guess it just depends on where you get them.


----------



## Sanfro (Apr 27, 2012)

Flour tortillas are in the minority in every part of Mexico except a few northern states . I was in New Mexico last week and they really seem to focus on the flour tortilla as well . I kinda got burned out on tortillas as well , so now I either only eat one or two if any . 

I also got spoiled a bit on Chinese and Thai fried rice , so I don't care much for it in Mexico . Now the beans are a necessity for me .


----------



## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

TundraGreen said:


> I don't order them much any more, but my recollection is that wheat is common in Guadalajara. I guess it just depends on where you get them.


Like so many things about Mexico, it's risky to generalize. For example, I know of two dedicated tortillas de harina shops in Pátzcuaro; not to mention their availability in supermercados. But the great majority of tortillas here are made of corn.

After posting earlier about quesadillas, I thought some more and began to think that those made and sold in the Pátzcuaro Mercado are wheat based. But I can't say for sure. They are also fried in oil, rather than cooked on a comal, and I don't like them as much.


----------



## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

TundraGreen said:


> As you go further north in Mexico, wheat tortillas become more common. In Sonora, they are the default.
> 
> I like both, but usually eat corn tortillas because:
> One corn tortilla has about 50 calories including about 1.5 grams of fat
> One wheat tortilla has about 150 calories including 4 grams of fat


Add to that the fact that corn tortillas tend to be made with the whole kernel, so contain fiber, while the white flour used to make flour tortillas may as well be a big old pile of sugar.


----------



## DNP (May 3, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Add to that the fact that corn tortillas tend to be made with the whole kernel, so contain fiber, while the white flour used to make flour tortillas may as well be a big old pile of sugar.


Agree. And if one were concerned about gluten, they would also pass on the flour tortillas and go for the corn tortillas instead.

Sent from my iPod touch using ExpatForum


----------



## Longford (May 25, 2012)

List my name in the column marked "Prefers Corn Tortillas." I moved away from flour tortillas about 20 years ago, and have never looked back. 

In Mexico, as in the USA, I think machine-made corn tortillas are the norm. And for home in Mexico I've always stopped for a half or quarter kilo of tortillas, down the street. I prefer the _de mano_ method but I don't go through the effort to make them. 

I've observed an increasing number of restaurants in Mexico offering the hand-made corn tortillas. Where I live in Chicago, a city where one can probably find the greatest representation of the span of Mexican cooking styles, many of the Mexican restaurants offer hand-made corn tortillas. Actually, you can order either variety ... corn or flour. People who came from the north of Mexico seem to almost always order the flour, people from Guajanato south prefer the corn. There are exceptions, of course. 

If someone complains about eating too many corn tortillas and too much beans and rice ... I'm left with the impression they're amongst the poorest people and can afford nothing else but those items. Otherwise, there are many options regarding what to eat.


----------



## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

Longford said:


> If someone complains about eating too many corn tortillas and too much beans and rice ... I'm left with the impression they're amongst the poorest people and can afford nothing else but those items. Otherwise, there are many options regarding what to eat.


I am coming from Nicaragua where yes, the people are extremely poor and corn tortillas and rice and beans is the daily staple. Most people eat rice and beans 3 times a day, every day. Salads were lettuce with one slice of tomato cut in half with a spoonful of Mayo on top. Veggies were limited and not normally very fresh. Although it seemed to me that the country had a great climate for growing veggies, I didn't know anyone who had a garden or even so much as a tomato plant at their home. The people there really confused the heck out of me when I came to food. I would often invite people out to nice restaurants and tell them to order whatever they liked... guess what?? They might order imported Argentinian beef with a side of.... rice and beans! 
:confused2:
Every single restaurant, from the $25 breakfast buffet at the InterContinental to the lady selling out of her house offered Gallo Pinto at every single meal.

Our maids were instructed several times that I did NOT want to see rice and beans on my plate ever again and they would struggle to figure out what to cook and inevitably go back to rice and beans in a week or less. I fired 2 otherwise decent maids over it until I finally figured out I was fighting a losing battle. The last few months I got fed up and ate in Americanized restaurants almost every meal. I love the Latin culture but realized I couldn't deal with the food anymore, one of the main reasons I decided to leave Nicaragua and try out Mexico. 

The time I have spent in Mexico so far I have seen such a great variety of food, it compares to the US but at even lower prices!


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

There is no accounting for taste. I like rice and beans and could easily eat them every day. At home I usually do eat them for at least one meal a day. I have a pressure cooker and make my own beans from the bulk dried beans. I also have a tortilla press and make tortillas hecho a mano before every evening meal.


----------



## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

Yes, everyone has different tastes. My thing is hamburgers. I could probably eat a good hamburger every day, as long as they came from different restaurants. When in the US I normally do have one every day. One day at Wendy's next at McDonalds, next at BK, one at in and out, another at ____ and so on and so forth.... Hamburgers are my rice and beans I guess. But, as much as I like hamburgers, I don't think I would I want to eat them 3 times a day every day for infinity.

_My problem was I never liked rice and beans in the first place_ and then to have them served to me every single meal for months and months and months on end.... well, I honestly don't think I will ever eat them again unless I am truly starving.


----------



## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

I love rice and beans also. Sometimes just one or the other. But at least one of them every day, we even eat rice in soup. We eat hand made corn tortillas, and are actually trying to cut down on them...one neighbor we buy them from makes them huge and hubby loves them. the other makes tiny ones & I love those. They do sell flour tortillas in the grocery store in the bigger town (Ometepec or Aca)


----------



## Longford (May 25, 2012)

kito1 said:


> _My problem was I never liked rice and beans in the first place_ and then to have them served to me every single meal for months and months and months on end.... well, I honestly don't think I will ever eat them again unless I am truly starving.


Of course, a resolution to your dilema would have been to cook for yourself ... instead of tolerating (don't know why) the preferences of household staff which chose to ignore your linstructions. :cheer2:

Rice and beans are side portions of a meal for most of us when we're in Mexico. I eat both at my main meal daily and would feel cheated if either the restaurant didn't serve them or I didn't prepare them at home myself. I'm a _frijol *****_ fan. They're a healthy addition to the diet (mosts beans, those without lard or other grease). But, I understand not all of us enjoy/appreciate the same things. :clap2:


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

frijoles charros. . . It can't get better. I went to the wedding of my landlord's daughter and frijoles charros were served as part of the dinner. Everyone at the table, eight of us, both Mexican and gringos asked for more. This, I could eat at every meal.


----------



## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

Flour tortillas for me are a breakfast/dessert food. I love them warm, very flaky, served with lots of butter, berries, nuts, and cream (or cream cheese). Thus I do my utmost to avoid them. :wink:

Corn tortillas are most common here, and I enjoy them but strongly dislike beans. Frijoles are served with everything, even breakfast, so I try to specify when ordering that I don't want them. With rice, it depends on what kind it is and how it's cooked, but I usually don't care for the way it's made in restaurants. Major exception: risotto as served in our excellent Italian eateries.


----------



## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

I've been served frijoles that were repellent, and others of which I couldn't get enough.

Some of the worst are the insipidly seasoned, cold to room temperature, watery white beans served in some cocinas económicas in Michoacán. But some of the best, the greatest frijoles guisados, are served in a small, coffee shop like cafe in Morelia Centro, called "El Rincón de Allende."


----------



## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

TundraGreen said:


> Quesadillas are typically made with wheat tortillas.


That must be a regional thing. Here in Mexico City, I've never seen quesadillas made with other than corn tortillas.

Also, for the OP, the availability of wheat tortillas in the part of south Mexico City where I live:

-Several packaged supermarket brands, mostly white flour, but also some whole wheat and nopal.
-a stand in the main market where they make them fresh
-a certain sidewalk stand


----------



## DNP (May 3, 2011)

From Wilipedeia:

".According to Mayan legend, tortillas were invented by a peasant for his hungry king in ancient times. The first tortillas discovered, which date back to approximately 10,000 BC, were made of native maize with dried kernel[citation needed]. The Aztecs used a lot of maize, both eaten straight from the cob and in recipes. They ground the maize, and used the cornmeal to make a dough called masa.[2]"


----------



## ReefHound (Aug 9, 2010)

kito1 said:


> _My problem was I never liked rice and beans in the first place_ and then to have them served to me every single meal for months and months and months on end.... well, I honestly don't think I will ever eat them again unless I am truly starving.


If you're sick and tired of rice and beans, and need a change of pace, try beans and rice.


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

ReefHound said:


> If you're sick and tired of rice and beans, and need a change of pace, try beans and rice.


Or, spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> Or, spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam.


How about green eggs and spam?


----------



## phredo (Aug 15, 2009)

Although corn tortillas seem best from a whole foods point of view, an unpleasant fact of life these days is that most corn is genetically modified while wheat is not. :confused2:


----------



## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

kito1 said:


> After living in Central America for the past few years I have grown to despise strongly flavored corn tortillas along with rice and beans. I swear I never want to eat rice/beans or corn tortillas again as long as I live. Even the Mexican restaurants in CA seem to carry only corn tortillas. Honestly, I miss the "fake" Mexican food  I find in the US and I just can't seem to remember eating tortillas much on my visits to Mexico so was wondering how hard it is to find plain ol' flour tortillas in Mexico?


Hi;

Just another note. In the northern, more arid parts of the country it's almost exclusively flour tortillas. I think it has to do with easier to grow wheat than corn which I think takes more constant watering. Down south it's predominately corn. At least that's what my Mexciana wife tells me.

Just like in NOB where a midwest state like Ohio has a "snow line", there's a flour tortilla line somewhere drawn across Mexico. All I know it's the more northern states like Sonora, Chiquahua, etc.

Cuyler


----------

