If there is one element that sets any taco apart from the rest, it’s the tortilla.
The tortilla can make or break a good taco, set it apart from others and sometimes be a snack on its own. But when it comes to getting good tortillas at home, do they always have to be made from scratch?
Taco journalist Mando Rayo of the Tacos of Texas podcast says that if you can’t do homemade, finding the right place to score your tortillas from is key. He says to look up panaderías or other bakeries locally for their tortillas. Plus, he says some restaurants will even sell you a dozen.
Rayo joined the Standard to talk about the best ways to heat up a tortilla and which foods go best with corn or flour. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Let’s talk about scratch-made first. What decisions are we making when trying to select the perfect tortilla to make at home?
Mando Rayo: I mean, you know, it all depends on what you’re making them for.
Is it like fresh flour tortillas that are more of a labor of love? You know, so you got to make sure you have some good manteca and elbow grease for that. Or if you’re making corn tortillas, if you have a tortilla press, that makes it a lot easier.
But yeah, it all depends on what you’re making it for. In Texas, you know, everybody wakes up with flour tortillas, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Is corn harder than flour to make, to your knowledge?
No, I don’t think so. I mean, the thing is, you gotta put in the blood, sweat and tears to that dough and make sure, as you knead the dough, you make it room temperature. And that’s by the heat of your pounding and the kneading.
Well now, when it comes to those of us who probably won’t be able to pull that one off in our own kitchen, what’s the first place to head to to get the best tortillas? Got any hot tips?
Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, if you have a local favorite tortilleria, a little tortilla factory, I go straight there versus a grocery store. So I go with, maybe if you’re in San Antonio, I love like that San Antonio Colonial Tortilla Factory, or at the new Pullman Market they have these amazing Sonoran wheat flour tortillas.
In Austin, Comadre Panadería or Joe’s Bakery. You know, like, even the restaurants will sell you tortillas. You just gotta ask.
Also, go to the grocery store – like maybe go to H-E-B. But here’s a red flag: If they still have a Hispanic aisle, I would stay away from that.
Why is that?
Just they have, like, the big box tortillas. You know, those big box tortillas have a lot of preservatives.
Designed for extended shelf life, it sounds like.
Yeah, exactly. And you don’t want that. So go to the bakery aisle, right? Go to the bakery department and make sure they have the tortillas. And H-E-B, you can’t go wrong with H-E-B tortillas.
You can’t go wrong with even your little meat market. They have fresh tortillas – fresh corn or flour tortillas. So I would definitely, if you’re going to go grocery shopping, go to the bakery section versus the “Hispanic aisle.”
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All right. So, once you get them home, I would presume that there’s a better way than just throwing them in the microwave.
Oh, my God. Do not say… No.
I knew that would set you up. What’s the best way to cook them?
If you have a gas stove, put it on a comal. Put it maybe on a cast iron or a pan and just let it warm up.
But, you know, if you’re doing flour tortillas, make sure they don’t stay pasty white. You gotta have the brown spots on them, and then you got to let them fluff up. And it’s, you know, like about a minute, a minute and a half on each side. So make sure that they’re fully cooked.
You know that old saying about red wine with beef and white wine with fish? What about corn or flour? Does one style go better with one type of filling or the other?
Oh yeah. Definitely. Like if I’m going to have a good breakfast taco, I mean, we are in Texas, right? So I always go with flour tortilla. It’s soft, it’s flaky, it’s puffy and it goes great with eggs or great with beans and bacon. The saltiness brings it all together.
But I would say, like, if you’re going to go with a street taco – for example, one of my favorites is, Cuantos Tacos in Austin. They get their masa at San Antonio’s Colonial Tortilla Factory. So you got to go with a corn with a street-style taco, right?
You know, not all tortillas are made alike, and they shouldn’t be perfectly round. But I like the thinner corn tortillas, but then there’s nothing wrong with doing the double corn, right?
Maybe this depends on what time of day we catch you, Mando, but do you have a favorite? Flour versus corn?
My favorite is definitely corn. You know, I’m a native Texan, and I grew up with flour tortillas, but I do love a good corn tortilla.
