# Are Corn Tortillas Common in your Supermarket? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651 "2012-12-31T10:49:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/41 "2012-12-31T18:56:21Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Well, if those English speakers had only visited Spain, they would think a _tortilla_ is a sort of potato omelet. And wonder why anybody would add wheat to it… Yes, that’s true. But I guess I was thinking in context here. Tortillas and tortilla chips, in the American sense, do exist in the UK. I know I’ve seen them at Tescos. > [@](#): > > Except that what [Wahaca](http://www.wahaca.co.uk/flash/main.html) calls “corn tortillas” are probably fairly similar to our corn tortillas. I’d love to visit London, but eating Mexican food there would be rather far down on my list of priorities… That’s what I was wondering, as I’ve seen “corn tortillas” in this sense on menus and in shops at the UK, too. Not commonly, but I have seen it. Looking at Tesco, Sainsburys, and Asda, I see both corn and flour torillas, with even [ASDA’s house brand](http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/catalog/sectionpagecontainer.jsp?skuId=910000774427&departmentid=1214921923813&aisleid=1214921924215&startValue='') calling it “corn.” (Although their “corn” tortilla is a mix of wheat flour and corn/maize flour.) ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/42 "2012-12-31T20:05:20Z")
Crappy, pre-packaged and been on the truck forever ones, but yes, we have them. Saskatchewan. I remember this because I bought them to try them out and thought they were gross and went back to flour ones. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/43 "2012-12-31T20:16:56Z")
I just came from the grocery and took a couple photos of the tortilla aisle. [Tortilla 1, Mexican market, mass market just visible at left](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines1.jpg) [Tortilla 2, detail of prior photo](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines2.jpg) [Tortilla 3, mass market](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines3.jpg) I was surprised at how much variety in flour tortillas they have. They are basically the middle three rows. Corn dominates of course, they don’t even bother shelving them. They just set down boxes for people to tear open for a the warm ones. This was at the [Tony’s Finer Foods](http://tonysfinerfood.com/store/niles) in Niles, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/44 "2012-12-31T20:18:55Z")
Corn Tortillas are not hard to find here, although not every grocery store carries them. I live in suburban Pittsburgh, about as far from the city as you can get and still be considered “Pittsburgh area”. It’s fairly rural and we don’t have a big Hispanic population in Pittsburgh. But I know at least 3 of the 4-5 grocery chains around here carry corn tortillas, and a couple even have Mexican cheeses and canned goods. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/45 "2012-12-31T20:32:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You can make them yourself, but it requires being able to find masa harina. Strangely enough, when I lived in Budapest, there were a couple local international specialty stores that did sell masa harina (along with dried chiles like anchos and guajillos and, believe it or not, huitlacoche), so I have some hope for finding it in Ottawa. That said, making them is a little bit of a pain in the ass. It’s not difficult, but it helps if you have a tortilla press. We’d just use a cast iron pan and smash the dough balls in between two pieces of wax paper. Smashing works as well as anything else. With a tortilla press, you really need to put the dough ball between two pieces of plastic wrap (or parchment), as you’ll never get the tort off the press in one piece. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/46 "2012-12-31T20:34:23Z")
I live in CA, you can get a variety of corn tortillas at the supermarket, everything from fresh to pre-fried in the shape of taco shells. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/47 "2012-12-31T21:53:35Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I just came from the grocery and took a couple photos of the tortilla aisle. > [Tortilla 1, Mexican market, mass market just visible at left](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines1.jpg) > [Tortilla 2, detail of prior photo](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines2.jpg) > [Tortilla 3, mass market](http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/jnglmassiv/food/?action=view¤t=tortillasseleccines3.jpg) > > I was surprised at how much variety in flour tortillas they have. They are basically the middle three rows. > Corn dominates of course, they don’t even bother shelving them. They just set down boxes for people to tear open for a the warm ones. > This was at the [Tony’s Finer Foods](http://tonysfinerfood.com/store/niles) in Niles, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. You lucky, jammy bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/48 "2012-12-31T22:07:39Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Crappy, pre-packaged and been on the truck forever ones, but yes, we have them. Saskatchewan. I remember this because I bought them to try them out and thought they were gross and went back to flour ones. I’m guessing this is why they don’t sell here. Perhaps they are far better fresh, and therefore us whitey Canadians don’t have enough clout to support the industry. Salsa on the other hand has a shelf life of months. The fresh stuff I can buy is tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, and if I’m lucky a jalapeno pepper in every barrel. Aye chihuahua! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/49 "2012-12-31T22:15:09Z")
Huh. I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska in the 70s and we had tacos every other week. If you can get corn tortillas in every grocery store in Fairbanks, at a time when we put powdered milk on our cereal because fresh was too expensive, I would have thought there would be no place in North America where you couldn’t find corn tortillas. Have you tried looking everywhere? Like, under the sofa cushions or in the pockets of your jeans in the laundry basket? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/50 "2012-12-31T22:22:18Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Huh. I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska in the 70s and we had tacos every other week. If you can get corn tortillas in every grocery store in Fairbanks, at a time when we put powdered milk on our cereal because fresh was too expensive, I would have thought there would be no place in North America where you couldn’t find corn tortillas. > > Have you tried looking everywhere? Like, under the sofa cushions or in the pockets of your jeans in the laundry basket? Are you talking fresh corn tortillas? Of course I can buy the cardboard El Paso brand, etc. but I’m talking about flexible, fresh corn tortillas, not the U-shaped abominations in kits. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/51 "2012-12-31T22:44:05Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Huh. I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska in the 70s and we had tacos every other week. If you can get corn tortillas in every grocery store in Fairbanks, at a time when we put powdered milk on our cereal because fresh was too expensive, I would have thought there would be no place in North America where you couldn’t find corn tortillas. Yeah, see **jnglmassiv** ’s second photo link above. Little bags full of a stack of soft, white corn tortillas. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/52 "2012-12-31T22:53:07Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, I wish more Mexicans would immigrate here then. The salsa is terrible, and we have no corn tortillas. God knows what other delicacies I’m missing out on. Stupid Ottawa. Yeah, the local supermarket an entire aisle devoted to Mexican foods (another one to Asian). Weird, strange stuff I’ve never even heard of before nor even know what to do with, but I’m learning. And loving it. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/53 "2012-12-31T23:04:36Z")
Since I started the whole kerfuffle over in the other thread, I thought I’d chime in here to say, of course corn tortillas are widely available here! It never really occurred to me that they’re not available everywhere, and I’m deeply sorry that I’ve inspired a desire for something you can’t have. We have them in every grocery, discount, or warehouse store and even most convenience stores. You can get national, regional, and local brands, and they come in yellow, white, blue, and even red corn varieties. They’re usually between 4 and 6 inches across, maybe because they’re more brittle than flour tortillas (there’s no gluten to hold them together). The “cardboard El Paso brand” tortillas you speak of - are they taco shells? Because, if so, they’re fried in the U-shape on purpose, and that’s why they’re crispy. Tortilla chips are just corn tortillas cut into wedges and fried, as well. I have actually personally known people who’ve made “enchilada casseroles” with both of these products, but I don’t know that I’d recommend it. Come to think of it, I know I wouldn’t. They aren’t difficult to make, but if corn tortillas are hard to find there, I’m guessing masa harina probably isn’t on the shelves of all your local grocers either. I’d suggest you go to wherever you hear Spanish spoken and ask around, but I understand that may not be practical in Ottawa. If you can find them frozen, that’s certainly better than nothing. The tortillas do go stale pretty quickly, but if you’re making enchiladas with them, they’ll rehydrate in the pan. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/54 "2012-12-31T23:09:22Z")
I live in Toronto and often lament the lack of good (hell, even decent) Mexican foodstuffs. Flour tortillas are available but they are expensive compared to what I used to get at at HEB when I lived in Texas. I’m visiting in Dallas right now and already have some tamales I’m bringing back with me. Will probably get some decent salsa as well. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/55 "2012-12-31T23:52:02Z")
Unlike flour tortillas, which can be heated about 20 seconds in the microwave to be made flexible, corn tortillas really must be cooked a minute in hot oil. This makes them flexible and also taste better, they are stiff and gross otherwise. I’m talking about the pre-packaged ones in the grocery, not the hot n’ fresh some of you are talking about. But things like enchiladas and casseroles really need the corn tortillas, not the flour (which dissolve into white globs of glue). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/56 "2013-01-01T00:00:13Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Unlike flour tortillas, which can be heated about 20 seconds in the microwave to be made flexible, corn tortillas really must be cooked a minute in hot oil. This makes them flexible and also taste better, they are stiff and gross otherwise. I’m talking about the pre-packaged ones in the grocery, not the hot n’ fresh some of you are talking about. But things like enchiladas and casseroles really need the corn tortillas, not the flour (which dissolve into white globs of glue). Personally, I use a dry, flat surface (cast iron pan or comal) to heat corn tortillas up on. If they’re particularly stale, a very quick dunk in water before throwing onto the hot pan/comal. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/57 "2013-01-01T00:06:02Z")
Chicago, and I’m tripping over corn tortillas, thank god!! ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/58 "2013-01-01T00:47:26Z")
Metro Detroit. Not only are corn tortillas easy to find, I can point you to a tiny tortillieria in- of all places- Melvindale fucking Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/59 "2013-01-01T05:41:07Z")
Yes, I’m talking about flexible packets of corn tortillas. We always used to fry them in oil when I was a kid, but nowadays I just toast them in a cast iron skillet. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651/60 "2013-01-01T05:47:20Z")
Living in the So Cal barrio, the answer would be yes. Tortillas are available everywhere, supermarket, mercado, 7/11, gas station, drug store… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-corn-tortillas-common-in-your-supermarket/645651.md?page=4)