Make Huevos Rancheros.
Refry your beans with some cumin and coriander.
Cook up the tortillas with oil until they are nice and soft.
put the beans on
cover with eggs
cover with Salsa Verde
I think flour tortillas keep better than corn tortillas, so are more popular in places with less turnover in tortilla stock. I know I thought I didn’t like corn tortillas until I started getting freshly made ones from a local tortilleria–turns out I just don’t like stale corn tortillas.
I am a celiac so I get very frustrated when I am assured that I am being served corn tortillas and they turn out to be wheat tortillas. Once we diagnosed my gluten-intolerance, it became an excuse to go to Mexican restaurants for enchiladas. Yum.
I’ve always preferred corn because they are tastier to my tongue but admit the floppyness of wheat tortillas does have some advantages, especially for food on the go.
Around here you can get freshly made corn tortillas at the grocery store as well as other places–I don’t think I’ve ever seen freshly made flour tortillas, though. You MUST use corn tortillas for enchiladas.
Oh man, that sounds good! I could go for some right now.
Say, it’s nearly lunchtime! What have I got…oh yeah, that banana I was going to force myself to eat and half a peanut butter sandwich.
I’ve found this to be the case here in San Antonio at basically any Mexican restaurant I’ve been to, from a hole-in-the-wall to upscale. I’m not talking about the tortillas that they make the enchiladas or tacos with, but the “extra” tortillas you get on the side to mop up the deliciousness. The default choice is flour, and occasionally you get asked if you want corn or flour, but most of the time if you want corn, you’d better say it up front and not wait to see if you are asked for an option. But even if you say corn, half the time you get flour anyhow.
Heh, I have never lived in a place where both were not common. Corn tortillas are more common in my Dominican neighborhood but you can buy flour at the store.
Corn tortillas all the way for me. While I see a lot more flour ones than I recall, corn is still easy to find.
I don’t think my children are even aware that tortillas were originally made from corn.
It’s also possible to fry a corn tortilla so it puffs up into a ball. Then you top it with chili con queso (made with Velveeta, of course). The peak of Tex-Mex excellence. And available on one of the combination plates at Teotihuacan.
The menu at this Mexican-American run place in my neighborhood is an interesting combination. It includes Quesos–made with the aforementioned Velveeta. And Queso Fundido–made with “real” cheese. Excellent stuff, but it must be wrapped in tortillas immediately–before it turns into cement.
(Why have I been having these cravings for Mexican food? Because Cafe Society has turned into a Mexican cafe recently?)
Chicago is also pretty much corn tortilla land. You’ll see flour tortillas for burritos, but pretty much everything else is corn. It’s quite nice, too, since I love corn tortillas and don’t really care for the flour ones, and there’s plenty of tortillerias in the neighborhood so when you get your corn tortillas at a good supermarket, they’re still warm from the factory. Yum!
edit: 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.
A quick check of the fridge shows 1 package corn tortillas, 1 package gordita-sized flour tortillas, and 1 package large burrito-sized flour tortillas. The corn ones are from a tortilleria on the next block.
Flour tortillas are made with lard and corn tortillas are not. That needs to be considered if you are on a fat restricted diet.
In El Paso the tortilla you’re served on the side depends on the neighborhood you’re in.
As a side note, if the restaurnat uses corn as the default tortilla it’s also highly likely that a lime will be the default citrus in your tea.
Quesadillas on corn tortillas are a staple at our house. Just take a cast iron griddle, slap corn tortillas on, flip when hot, then add a slice of cheese, melt the cheese, and serve. Add a cup of plain yogurt or beans for dipping, and the kids gobble them up. Kids love dipping. Add some ground beef crumbles with cumin and garlic for extra-fancy. And salsa for the adults.
I’ve never seen enchiladas made with flour tortillas. Weird.
I keep a package of corn tortillas in the freezer (thanks, Jacques Pepin, for the tip!) so I always have some. They defrost pretty fast. I make chips and hard shell tacos from them (my family seems firmly against soft tacos). We’ve always made quesadillas from flour tortillas though–heat in a dry pan, cover with cheese, black beans, then fold over and cook on both sides until crispy. I’ll have to try it with the corn tortillas, it sounds good.
Another good use for corn tortillas is migas. I usually use leftover chips, but you can use fresh tortillas–just rip or cut them into strips and scramble them with eggs. You can add onion, green pepper, salsa, cheese. I usually just do salsa and cheese because it’s easy. My husband refers to this as Mexican Matzo Brei. Yummy.
Most people have never had freshly made corn tortillas & have no idea how great they can be. In Atlanta, we can get close by grabbing some really high quality locally-made corn tortillas wrapped in paper at the grocery store. They should be heated in a hot, dry skillet for a few seconds per side before serving.
Speaking of regional styles, I have fond memories of the Mexican restaurants in Denver, where you always got a side of soft, fresh corn tortillas in a warmer covered with a cloth napkin. Absolutely delectable. I miss that. The Chicano community in Denver is pretty large, lively and vibrant.
(too late for an edit:)
I guess what I’m really missing is how Chicano culture in Denver is better integrated with the Anglo world, better established and more self-assured. Here in Northern Virginia, there isn’t the same feeling of cohesion in the Latino communities, which are diverse (mostly from Central America, especially El Salvador), and there’s no sense of integration at all, the Latinos here are recently arrived and the frequent targets of racism and political agitation against immigrants. But this is a good area for Salvadoran pupusas.
Damn, I had a hard time finding a mexican joint in Toronto.
AMEN!
With menudo, flour tortillas. For burritos, flour tortillas. For sincronizadas and quesadillas, flour tortillas. For everything else, corn tortillas.
I agree that most tacos should be on two steamed corn tortillas. But I do miss Tito’s Tacos. (Warning: Annoying jingle plays automatically. Turn off your sound before clicking!) Shredded beef, grated cheese, lettuce. The real corn tortillas (not those pre-moulded shell things you get at Taco Hell and its ilk) are fried in oil, so they’re crunchy on the rim and soft where the meat is.
It used to be that corn tortillas were the default at restaurants. Now the servers ask your preference.