The real deal
Authentic corn tortillas are well worth the time and effort involved, some Houston restaurateurs say
HUGO Ortega holds a corn tortilla straight off the griddle to his nose and inhales. The scent of that tortilla, made from freshly ground corn that he hand selected, is the smell of home, history and human existence itself.
Memories envelop him as little wisps of steam come off the hot disk of cooked masa. He thinks of his family who grew and harvested corn to make their own corn tortillas; of the silo that held the dried kernels in the winter; of the family’s molino that ground the corn; of the ancient process of cooking and grinding corn that has fed the Mexican diet for millennia.
This circle of ground corn is really the circle of life, says the chef of Hugo’s and Caracol restaurants in Houston. “This tortilla is what I knew in Mexico. It’s part of my heritage. The corn tortilla is a journey. We need to treat that respectfully. It’s the source of life.”
And that is not hyperbole. Anyone who appreciates the flavor and texture of a good corn tortilla should understand its vital place in our food history and its important status in the way we eat. What would we be — especially in Texas — without the corn tortilla?
Though many good Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants, food trucks and bakeries make good flour tortillas to feed our hunger for tacos and burritos, the homemade corn tortilla is a much rarer
thing. Many of the corn tortillas we encounter daily are commercial specimens, churned out by the thousands — identical, common, hardly individual. Which is not to say that commercial corn tortillas can’t be good. They can. And without their everyday availability and abundance, we’d suffer.
But a corn tortilla made from freshly ground corn masa is unique in Houston. Why? Because if tortillas are made fresh at home they’re typically the result of instant corn masa, a corn flour made from dehydrated masa. A brand such as Maseca is integral to those who desire homemade tortillas, tamales, sopes, quesadillas and empanadas. And while masa harina (instant corn flour) can make lovely, tasty, corn tortillas, it doesn’t have the same taste and texture as those made from fresh masa.
Instant corn masa, however, is an easy alternative to boiling dried corn and grinding it to make fresh corn tortillas at home (Canino Produce on Airline sells dried corn and grinders for those who want to attempt the real deal.)
The time-consuming and labor-intensive nature of making tortillas from dried corn is why true corn tortillas are uncommon in Houston restaurants. Very few do it. When Ortega and his wife, Tracy Vaught, opened Hugo’s in 2002, he knew without hesitation that he wanted to make corn tortillas from scratch, a practice he continued when they opened Caracol in December 2013. Today, both restaurants employ a small army of workers who create fresh corn masa not just for tortillas but for other masa products such as huaraches and filled and openface appetizers. Even the chips (which are called totopos on the menu) are fashioned from a tortilla of a specific thickness made just for the chips.
Long before chef Ryan Pera opened Eight Row Flint in the Heights in December with partner Morgan Weber, he knew he wanted to make his own corn tortillas from scratch for the neo-icehouse’s tacos. “My first inclination was to purchase tortillas,” Pera said. “But we want to put out the best product we can — that’s what it boils down to. We wanted the taco to have integrity.”
That meant investing in research and development for sourcing dried field corn (in this case certified organic yellow dent corn), buying a commercial corn grinder with stone grinding wheels and finding workers who were skilled in handling corn masa. Because the bar’s menu is so limited (food-truck tacos are the star), it was essential that all the elements were the highest quality, said Vincent Huynh, culinary director for Agricole Hospitality, Pera and Weber’s restaurant group that owns and operates Eight Row.
“We have a narrow focus for food,” Huynh said. “So our energy can go into making our own tortillas.”
Caracol, Hugo’s and Eight Row Flint all go through the same process to achieve a fresh corn tortilla. It starts first with quality dried field corn. That corn is put through a process called nixtamalization (an ancient treatment developed in Mesoamerica; probably as far back as 1200-1500 BC) by which an alkaline solution is added to boiling corn to remove the kernel’s skins and produce a softer, more flavorful corn that is easier to eat, and also increases its nutritional value. The Aztecs and Mayans used limestone or ash from cooking fires to achieve nixtamalization.
Today, pickling lime (food-grade calcium hydroxide, or “cal”) does the trick. The dried corn kernels are rinsed and then boiled for a short time in water and cal, then left to soak in the liquid for as long as overnight. This corn is now called nixtamal, which is rinsed then ground into masa — the dough, moistened with water to achieve the correct consistency, is formed into tortillas and cooked on a comal or flat griddle. Hola, fresh corn tortilla.
Ana Beaven, owner of Cuchara in Montrose, is proud that her Mexican restaurant grinds its own nixtamal for special masa products such as huaraches, corn cakes, chalupas, gorditas and small appetizers (for other uses the restaurant sources a commercial corn tortilla made to its specifications). Cuchara even makes bi-colored and tri-colored corn tortillas with masas colored and flavored with foods such as poblano peppers, chocolate, coffee, guajillo peppers and hibiscus flour.
“In our diet, we eat corn every day, whether it’s in a soup, or a stew, or a tamale or a drink. Or a tortilla. We are always consuming corn,” Beaven said of her Mexican heritage. “This love for corn is something we need.”
Still, she acknowledges that the process for making tortillas from freshly ground corn is “excruciating.” “You have to be very skilled with your hands. You need someone who knows what they’re doing. And you need space. The corn tortilla is a totally different beast.”
Cookbook author Robb Walsh, an expert in TexMex and Texas foodways, said that tortillas made from ground corn masa are a rarity for a reason. “Maseca has largely replaced fresh nixtamalized masa in Mexico,” he said. “Tortillas from fresh masa have practically disappeared from Mexico.”
Walsh even went so far as to suggest that most American consumers, if blindfolded, may not be able to detect a fresh masa corn tortilla from a masa harina corn tortilla. In fact, he said, they may prefer the latter. Commercial tortillas, too, are so good and dependable that they’ve become ubiquitous in restaurants and home kitchens.
At El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, the Montrose restaurant he co-owns with Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd, corn tortillas are important. About six different types are used in the kitchen for various dishes. The restaurant also makes fresh masa for its puffy tacos. But because customers have requested they do so (largely driven by glutenfree adherents), El Real recently began making its own fresh corn tortillas from corn flour such as Maseca. These corn tortillas, or “table” corn tortillas, will be served for those who request corn tortillas for fajitas or for just general eating.
Downtown, El Big Bad gastrocantina also is making its own corn tortillas but using prepared masa.
“I don’t know a lot of restaurants that make tortillas from fresh masa,” owner Steve Sharma said. “It’s a trend that may develop, but there’s so much work and not a lot of perceived value from the customer end.”
But, Sharma said, fresh corn tortillas are something that the restaurant wants to invest in. “It makes the tortillas so much better. They taste great,” he said.
For Pera, the process of making tortillas from house-ground corn is essential. Yes, it costs more per tortilla, and it takes time and skill. But he thinks it’s the right thing to do. “It may not matter to most people, but it matters to us,” he said. “You have to love it. It’s just like being a baker. You have to be into it.”
Ortega, who uses a variety of colors of corn for masa that is fashioned into dozens of uses, wouldn’t think of not making his own corn tortillas.
“We don’t know any other way to do it,” he said. “I’m surrounded by a beautiful tradition and wonderful cooks. I’m so proud to offer something so close to my heart.”