Tortilla Press

So, as I mentioned, my sweetie took pity on me and bought me a tortilla press, because both she and I thought that perhaps that was the issue, that the tortillas just weren’t being pressed firmly enough. I was willing to try anything, as I had had tried my hands, and gotten no where, fast.

The resulting dough

Once again, I followed the directions, but the directions that came with the tortilla press were not that much different then the ones I had used before. Corn tortillas, which is what I was making, don’t use lard, the way flour ones do, so have nothing sticky about them. I did find a recipe that said to use shortening, but I wasn’t about to do that. I also found ones that just used water, as recommend, but my dough didn’t quite work the way it should have. I was very depressed, and thought, well, perhaps I’ll just give up.

My Tortillas

The resulting tortillas weren’t bad, they were just thick, and didn’t quite cook right, and didn’t quite look right, and weren’t tortillas.   They were more like fried corn meal, which they were. It was sort of like polento, which they were very similar to, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.  As I said, I know it can be done, because it has been done for hundreds of years, so why can’t I get something that looks so easy.

Farmer's Market Tortillas

And, I would have given up there and then, but found these tortillas, pictured, at the Farmer’s Market. At first I though they were flour tortillas, but no, they were corn. I complimented the woman making them, but she only spoke Spanish, so I couldn’t talk to her much about how she made them. They taste so good, just like I imagine mine will, if I ever get it right. Cartoonist says, talk to the woman who takes the orders, see if they will show you how they do it, and I just might, next time I go.

And all the recipes I have found for corn tortillas also use those three ingredients, and it sounds so easy, so why not give it a try. My sweetie even bought me a toritilla press, but that was after, after many tries and failures.

The first time, I only had my hands, some maza mix, and a skillet. I thought, hey, people have been doing  hand for many year, why can’t I do it. Mesa mix is ground corn and lime. That is it. It is the same ingredients as tortillas have. All you have to is water.

So, that is what I did. I added water to the mix, formed it into a ball and tried to make a tortilla. I tried to flatten it. I tried to make ti stick together, but it wouldn’t work. It crumbled around, and was lumpy, and finally I took the rest of the mix, and put it in the fridge, hoping to try again later.

Cartoonist came home from school, that day, and this what she found.