Tortillacocina Blog

As the warm days of summer begin to come upon us we begin to think of refreshing coolers, fruit punches and lemonade. Most of us in the U.S remember the fun of running our own lemonade stand along the roadside during the heat of summer. Squeezing bags of fresh lemons, mixing in sugar, and chilling our concoction with ice cubes was half the fun. A summer treat popular throughout Latin America are the many varieties of Agua Fresca fresh fruit and herb coolers.  These deliciously light and non-filling beverages are fruit and herb infused waters that quench thirst without being overly filling, too sweet, and containing extra calories. Try them at your next picnic or pool party!

Whatever fresh fruit punch, lemonade, or Agua you decide to enjoy this summer using the right tools for job will make it easier and more fun. To squeeze the freshest and sweetest juice from lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit and pomagranates you need a Mexican manual juice press. The traditional mercado style lever powered juice squeezer extracts juice efficiently without gouging and disturbing the rind which is where bitter oils reside that can sour your juice. These large, heavy duty and rustic juicers will hold fruit sizes up to grapefruits and poms as well and several lemon quarters, limes, etc. To make batches of fresh lemonade that everyone will love these Mexican favorites are indispensable!

The best way to serve all types of Aguas, lemonade, tea, punch, and other summer favorites is out of a heavy glass beverage barrelas seen in mercados and restaurants throughout Latin America. These decorative and old fashioned wide mouthed barrels can hold up to 20 liters of liquid and have plenty of room to dip out the contents with a large ladle. The Agua Fresca experience is not complete with the proper glass serving barrel!

Shaved ice for snow cones and slushes tastes wonderful during the hot days of summer and making your own shaved ice at home is easy and convenient. With a small hand held block ice shaver you can whip up snow cones and other shaved ice treats in minutes without a the clean-up and hassle of a powered ice chipper or hand cranked ice shaver. Shaved ice is a Hispanic and Latin favorite (Italians have a lot of great recipes for shaved ice treats too!).

Enjoy this summer the traditional Latin way and treat your freinds and family to real refreshment! Saludos!

The “Bread of Mexico”, the delicious and versatile tortilla comes in two varieties. Corn tortillas are the original and oldest type and were made by the Aztecs and Maya prior to the coming of Europeans. The wheat flour tortilla is a relative latecomer, it was an adaptation to wheat cultivation brought to Mexico by the Spanish. Flour tortillas are popular in northern Mexico while corn tortillas are the staple in central and southern Mexico and Central America. There are major differences in use and making.

Corn Tortillas are the original type of tortilla and are made using a specially prepared corn flour known as “masa” (which means “dough” in Spanish). Masa is made by soaking and cooking corn kernals in a mild lime water solution. The “lime” we are referring to is hydrated lime or calcium hydroxide, sometimes called builders lime. In Mexico it is often referred to as “Cal”.  After soaking and cooking the corn in lime water it is washed and the tough outer husks removed. The remaining “naked” kernal is soft and almost pure starch. The corn is now called “nixtamal” and can be ground into a thick dough called masa. By adding water, salt and kneading it the masa is ready to make tortillas or tamales. Masa is more nutritious than regular corn meal and contains available niacin which regular corn meal lacks. The soft, pliable but non-sticky masa is flattened into a thin patty using a tortilla press, tortilla machine or by hand and cooked on a hot, dry griddle or comal. Corn tortillas are a staple item at most meals as well as being the basis for tacos, enchiladas, chips, and other traditional foods. They are often fried for a crisper texture.

Flour Tortillas are were introduced much later than corn. Wheat flour tortillas form the basis of Tex-Mex cuisine and are the primary ingredient for burritos, wraps, empanadas, and more.  Wheat flour tortillas are made by mixing wheat flour (whole wheat, bleached, or both) with a small amount of water and usually oil or lard. The mixture is kneaded into a thick, stiff dough until it is non-sticky. Flour tortillas contain gluten which is the protein in bread dough which makes the dough elastic (and allows bread to rise). Because of the gluten, flour tortillas cannot simply be pressed out like corn tortillas because they it will draw back-up. The gluten must be broken down using either mechanical action or heat before it will retain its shape when flattened into a thin tortilla. Flour tortillas are traditionally made by using a rolling pin to work and stretch the dough until flat and tender. An easier way is to press the dough with a heated tortilla press or dough press to flatten and parbake the dough at the same time. Our Electric Flour Tortilla Press is made for this very purpose and works well for making 8″ diameter flour tortillas. Restaurants and commercial producers use larger heated platen dough presses to produce large sized flour tortillas or a large volumes.

In our home we love both types of tortillas and make them regularly. I used to avoid making flour tortillas except on special occassions because of the mess and labor of rolling them out individually before cooking. Using the Electric Flour Tortilla Press I can easily make a small batch of flour tortillas fresh for a single meal with little clean-up or difficulty. It is possible to make 8-10 tortillas per minute with this unit! Corn tortillas are still the staple in our home and we make a large batch almost every week to keep in the refrigerator.  Enjoy both types of fresh homemade tortillas. I believe that once you try fresh tortillas you will be hooked!

The traditional Mexican tortilla press is a simple but effective kitchen tool made for one purpose: to flatten corn dough (masa) into tortillas prior to cooking. The hand operated wooden or metal tortilla press is a slightly more modern alternative to hand patting corn tortillas into shape. That said, the tortilla press has been around a long time!

To use a tortilla press for making corn tortillas you first need to cover the surfaces of the press (top and bottom) with plastic wrap or wax paper. Dough should never come into contact with the press itself. The reason for this is that the plastic wrap allows the dough to flow smoothly when pressed which is important to get thin round tortillas. Covering the press also keeps the tortilla from sticking to the metal and makes it easier to peel off cleanly. Lastly, covering the press makes clean-up much easier.

• Roll well kneaded, smooth corn masa dough into roughly golf ball sized balls, flatten slightly with your hand, and place in the middle of the tortilla press.
• Close press and apply pressure usingthe handle. It works best to apply pressure a couple times rather than all at once. Press to desired thickness.
• Open press carefully and peel tortilla from the plastic wrap. Place tortilla directly onto hot griddle or comal to cook.

Please note that the manual tortilla press is used for making corn tortillas, not wheat flour tortillas. Flour dough contains gluten and must be either rolled out and worked with a rolling pin or pressed out using heat to break down the gluten and parbake the dough. Pressing wheat flour tortillas out with a regular hand press will not work very well and the tortillas will draw back up and curl when cooked.

The best and easiest way to make delicious flour tortillas at home is using an Electric Flour Tortilla Press Maker from Mexico. It will make flour tortillas up to 8″ without rolling.

Good luck and have fun making tortillas!

We have long advocated the superior quality and performance of the traditional heavy cast iron tortilla press over lighter weight types such as aluminum and plastic. Anyone serious about making corn tortillas needs a cast iron tortilla press, the larger the better. Cast iron has been the favorite of tortilla makers for generations because the heavy weight makes the tortillas thinner with less effort and provides a more consistent product. Aluminum, which is somewhat popular today (mostly outside Mexico!), looks shiny and is immune to rust but requires more effort to use and may warp over time. Once the tortilla press plates become warped or the handle becomes bent it is not possible to press out a consistent flat tortilla. Cast iron may break in extreme handling but it will not warp or bend.

We have carried several sizes and styles of cast iron tortilla presses but recently settled on a single very high quality Mexican made tortilla press. The Estrella brand cast iron tortilla press made by Tisamatic in San Luis Patosi, Mexico is the best heavy duty press we have found to date. These tortilla presses are very heavily made of high quality castings and finished with a plated silver coating for easy care and a clean look. They come individually boxed and include a pair of plastic sheets to cover the plates during use. All our tortilla press sets now include this press as well. We think it is the best available!

We have created our new TortillaCocina.Com website blog to offer informative, helpful and fun information about Mexican cooking , tortilla making, using our traditional Mexican kitchen products, and more. Check back often as we will be posting several articles weekly. Feel free to email us at info@tortillacocina.com if you have ideas for future articles or subjects.

Thanks for your interest and your business!