# Seems like flour tortillas have almost completely superseded corn tortillas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085 "2009-07-15T04:46:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/41 "2009-07-16T14:12:28Z")
I’m not sure where I read it, but at one time there was a certain cachet to flour tortillas for Mexicans/Mexican Americans. Apparently, being able to afford the flour for tortillas was a sign of upward mobility and many mexican families preferred the fflour tortillas as a superior tortilla. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/42 "2009-07-16T15:03:50Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I’m not sure where I read it, but at one time there was a certain cachet to flour tortillas for Mexicans/Mexican Americans. Apparently, being able to afford the flour for tortillas was a sign of upward mobility and many mexican families preferred the fflour tortillas as a superior tortilla. I’ve heard that as well. White wheat flour is usually more expensive in Mexico and thus flour tortillas are reserved for special occasions. But when they come up here, get a decent paying job and see that you can a two pound bag of flour for a buck-fifty or so, they’ll make them more often. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/43 "2009-07-16T18:46:26Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > We use flour tortillas at home almost exclusively, but I do have a package of corn tortillas at home that I don’t really know what to do with. I used them in a recipe we call “nachos”, but it isn’t really (corn tortilla + chili + olives, cheese, etc, bake 15 minutes). > > One reason I haven’t used them yet is because they’re so small, I can’t just substitute them for our usual flour in a wrap. If you have suggestions, I’m open! I like to fry them up till they’re nice and crispy and make tostadas. Top with any of the following: refried beans, taco meat, tomato, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, cheese, pico, or whatever else you like. It’s like a single glorious mega-nacho. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/44 "2009-07-16T21:36:35Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > this is a good area for Salvadoran pupusas. Mmmmm, ppusas - my Salvadoran roomie in college used to bring them back to the dorm whenever she went home for the weekend. My favorite place in Chicago closed a couple of years ago, and I haven’t found one as good to replace it. OTOH I went out for lunch and got some _frijoles charros_ at a little storefront place a couple of blocks from my office. They come with bread, crackers, or tortillas. When I asked whether the tortillas were corn or flour, the nice Mexican girl behind the counter looked at me like I was a little bit…off. Corn, of course! ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/45 "2009-07-18T01:22:48Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I’ve heard that as well. White wheat flour is usually more expensive in Mexico and thus flour tortillas are reserved for special occasions. But when they come up here, get a decent paying job and see that you can a two pound bag of flour for a buck-fifty or so, they’ll make them more often. That is completely false. In the first place wheat flour is not expensive, around 12 pesos a kilo so that is less than half of what you say it costs in the USA. It is used extensively for breads and pastries which are consumed by all the different classes of society. Corn is king in Mexico. It always has been and always will be. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/46 "2009-07-18T02:34:55Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I have never seen flour tortillas used for tacos or enchiladas. Most Mexican restaurants here offer the choice of corn or flour tortillas with combination plates. Grocery stores sell both corn and flour tortillas. As a native Texan, your complaint also seems strange. Tacos and enchiladas use masa harina. Fajitas and burritos use masa trigo. Everyone knows that, even here in St. Louis where I live now. > [@DanBlather](#): > > I swear the next time I get Huevos Rancheros on a flour tortilla someone is going to get hurt. For a minute I’ll skip over the “flour” part and directly address the word “on” in your post. Huevos rancheros do not come “on” a tortilla of any variety. A corn tortilla is cut (or torn) into strips and cooked in with the eggs, etc. It is not wrapped around the eggs nor served under the eggs. If the tortilla is left whole and wrapped around the eggs, cheese, hash browns (or tater tots if you’re a hoosier), salsa, etc. then it is a breakfast burrito which is the True Food of the GODS and can come in either a corn or wheat flour tortilla depending on the cook. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/47 "2009-07-18T02:40:08Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > For a minute I’ll skip over the “flour” part and directly address the word “on” in your post. Huevos rancheros do not come “on” a tortilla of any variety. A corn tortilla is cut (or torn) into strips and cooked in with the eggs, etc. It is not wrapped around the eggs nor served under the eggs. What you are describing are _Migas_, not _Huevos Rancheros_. Huevos Rancheros most certainly come **on** tortillas. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/48 "2009-07-18T02:42:56Z")
That’ll teach me not to post while drunk. I confused heavos rancheros with migas. Dumbass. And I typed that before **silenus** posted. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/49 "2009-07-18T02:53:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This is not to say that flour tortillas are hard to find. There’s plenty of flour tortillas at the supermarkets here, too. But for most dishes at Mexican restaurants, you’re going to see corn tortillas used, and the tortillas served in the warming basket with your dinner are going to be corn, not flour. Not around here at the restaurants, anyway. Stores you can easily find either, but in the restaurants it’s always flour tortillas on the side. Unlike **fiddlesticks** ’ comment upthread, they won’t even nod when you ask, then serve flour anyway. Jeez, you got enchiladas, you got tacos, hard or soft, you got chips. How hard can it be to drop a couple extra masa tortillas in the warmer and serve 'em on the side? ---
**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:** [July 18, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/50 "2009-07-18T03:10:42Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Not around here at the restaurants, anyway. Not sure if you’re disagreeing or just adding a data point, but I was talking about the Chicago area only. That’s really too bad for you. A lot of the places around here make their corn tortillas in-house. They’re very different than store-bought ones, generally thicker and spongier (more like a slightly thicker-than-usual crepe) and cornier. The Yucatecan place I regularly go to, the guy even buys his own dried corn, makes his nixmatal by soaking it with slaked lime, grinds it down into masa, and makes tortillas. Oh, are they good! The best were some special tortillas he made one day when he found some kind of black (not blue) corn he had been looking for. Very earthy taste. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/51 "2009-07-18T03:20:38Z")
I was just grumbling about this the other day. A lot of chains here have decided that flour tortillas are to be used for everything. This makes me crazy. I deliberately failed to order fish tacos the other day because they were made with flour tortillas. Tacos and enchiladas are - by definition - made with corn tortillas. Same thing for huevos rancheros. I like flour tortillas for some things, but my default tortilla is always corn (my family is from central and southwestern Mexico). We’ve always made quesadillas with corn tortillas. My brother used to eat between 6 and 8 of them for dinner when he was a growing boy. I’m still in awe. This was 40 years ago or so; he now has a growing boy of his own who also vacuums up the quesadillas fresh from the microwave. :eek: My quesadillas have to be made on the stovetop. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/52 "2009-07-18T07:07:14Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > That is completely false. In the first place wheat flour is not expensive, around 12 pesos a kilo so that is less than half of what you say it costs in the USA. It is used extensively for breads and pastries which are consumed by all the different classes of society. Corn is king in Mexico. It always has been and always will be. To be quite honest it is all relative. The price has always fluctuated for commodities like corn and wheat. And when you are very poor, 12 pesos is rather expensive comparable to an equal amount of corn flour at probably a third less. And I qualified my statement by “At one time…”. Here is a third anecdote for the pricepoint dispute that I found in the Chowhound thread, [Wheat vs Corn Tortillas](http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/452837) [Quote=mamamia] I didn’t have a quesadilla made with flour tortillas until we moved to Arizona. I love my quesadillas made with two corn tortillas. For poorer people in Mexico, it’s easier to stretch your dollar by eating corn tortillas. My father told me that as a boy flour tortillas were a luxury because the flour was a lot more expensive. Price corn vs. flour at the store - it’s a no-brainer. [/Quote] ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/53 "2009-07-18T17:29:30Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > To be quite honest it is all relative. The price has always fluctuated for commodities like corn and wheat. And when you are very poor, 12 pesos is rather expensive comparable to an equal amount of corn flour at probably a third less. And I qualified my statement by “At one time…”. Here is a third anecdote for the pricepoint dispute that I found in the Chowhound thread, [Wheat vs Corn Tortillas](http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/452837) I am Mexican from Guadalajara. No one I know, rich or poor prefers wheat tortillas to corn. I cannot honestly recall the last time I ate a wheat flour tortilla. Perhaps a quesadilla some time ago. Maybe a burrito. But there are corn tortillas on our table every day. These are served still hot, fresh from one of the several neighborhood tortillerías. Whenever my wife shops at the nearby Santa Tere mercado she alsways brings home a kilo of handmade corn tortillas made from fresh nixtamal not masaharina. I guarantee few on this message board have ever tasted such delicious tortillas. (And they cost more than tortillas de harina.) Corn is the most important staple in our diet. It has been so forever along with beans and chile. The nutritional content of corn tortillas is superior to that of wheat. The process of _nixtamalización_ increases the niacin content substantially. Unlike wheat tortillas, no lard is used in their making. Corn has always been the major part of our culture. Cintéotl was the Aztec god of corn. Corn was equally revered by the Mayans before them. Mayan cosmology was based upon corn and that the very existence of man and corn was inseperable. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/54 "2009-07-18T18:13:00Z")
I personally prefer white flour tortillas for the same reason I prefer white bread for sandwiches: I’m of the (personal) opinion that the breadstuff is there simply to hold the filling, so I want a relatively neutral flavor. I want to taste the meat/peanut butter & jelly/whatever, not the bread. Though I also don’t care for the texture of corn tortillas (though I don’t mind then in the form of hard taco shells or corn chips - deep fried corn tortillas also taste completely different from their soft counterparts). The lone exception to this is rye bread when I’m eating a corned beef or pastrami sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/55 "2009-07-18T20:01:51Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > I am Mexican from Guadalajara. No one I know, rich or poor prefers wheat tortillas to corn. I cannot honestly recall the last time I ate a wheat flour tortilla. Perhaps a quesadilla some time ago. Maybe a burrito. But there are corn tortillas on our table every day. These are served still hot, fresh from one of the several neighborhood tortillerías. Whenever my wife shops at the nearby Santa Tere mercado she alsways brings home a kilo of handmade corn tortillas made from fresh nixtamal not masaharina. I guarantee few on this message board have ever tasted such delicious tortillas. (And they cost more than tortillas de harina.) Would that maybe be a regional difference? Being from the South of Mexico it might be both a preference and a matter of historic availability of corn and wheat? Admittedly, much of my local experience has been with Mexican families who came here a few generations ago from the Northern parts of Mexico as migrants. Plus here in the United States obtaining the nixtamal and masaharina for tortillas was nigh on impossible for them in pockets of already isolated rural areas, so that might be why flour tortillas are prevalent here in the U.S. Aren’t flour tortillas sort of cowboy (vaquero) food in Mexico, as well? (Regionalism Again) And I have had some really, really, good fresh flour tortillas straight off the comal… and they are absolutely delicious… even better than fresh bread. About the only thing I can compare them to are Indian Chapati (and those might be even better.) ---
**Author:** ![Euphoria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Euphoria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphoria)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/56 "2009-07-18T21:31:27Z")
corn tortilla \> flour tortilla ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/57 "2009-07-18T21:52:30Z")
> [@Euphoria](#): > > corn tortilla \> flour tortilla Negative. I don’t know how you can even think that. Corn tortillas are just plain nasty. Gringos have always preferred flour… that’s why we brought it over with us on the fucking Mayflower. Corn is just what the native Americans used because for thousands of years, that’s all they had. And they still use it because it’s hard to break a thousands-year-old tradition. My girlfriend is progressive though - she is from Guatemala (totally native heritage), yet admits to preferring flour tortillas. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/58 "2009-07-19T02:24:52Z")
Last, winter I was going to make burritos and found I had no flour tortillas, so I looked up “Homemade Flour Tortillas” on [allrecipes.com](http://allrecipes.com). They came out a bit thicker than the ones in the package but they tasted MUCH better for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/59 "2009-07-19T05:25:24Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > Corn is the most important staple in our diet. It has been so forever along with beans and chile. The nutritional content of corn tortillas is superior to that of wheat. The process of _nixtamalización_ increases the niacin content substantially. Unlike wheat tortillas, no lard is used in their making. > > Corn has always been the major part of our culture. Cintéotl was the Aztec god of corn. Corn was equally revered by the Mayans before them. Mayan cosmology was based upon corn and that the very existence of man and corn was inseperable. I totally respect that. For me, nothing tastes better than dishes of corn, beans, and chiles together. It means something to me that it’s the food of this land. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085/60 "2009-07-19T06:22:31Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Negative. I don’t know how you can even think that. Corn tortillas are just plain nasty. And I don’t understand how people prefer flour tortillas. They taste like nothing to me. Give me corn any day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seems-like-flour-tortillas-have-almost-completely-superseded-corn-tortillas/503085.md?page=4)