Welcome to ¡Ask a Tortilla Expert!, the world's premier column on all things tortilla! Each week until the finals of the 2023 Tortilla Tournament on October 8, judge Gustavo Arellano will take your most burning (but never burnt) tortilla questions. Grab your butter and salsa macha because things are about to get caliente.
I'm looking for that tortilla that tastes rustic, like roasted corn.
Aren't we all? You can talk to many older Mexicans in the United States and Mexico, and they'll tell you that corn tortillas haven't tasted like corn tortillas for decades. That's because, as I've said for the past six years during #tortillatournament and really since the publication of my 2012 book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, of the rise of GRUMA, the company that has a stranglehold on worldwide tortilla production with their terrible tortillas, which lose in the first round of our Tortilla Tournament every year. Sadly, too many mom-and-pop tortillerías will spike their otherwise-wonderful corn tortillas with Maseca, GRUMA's dehydrated masa, to save money and because it makes their product lasts longer.
LEARN MORE: 'Maíz is life' — the history, science, and politics of masa
Thankfully, there are still more than a few tortillerías that make their corn tortillas right — nixtamalized corn, water, and cal (lime) — and that's what my #TortillaTournament is about. I'm not sure what you mean when you're specifically asking for "rustic corn." As opposed to what, urban corn? If you're looking for organic, non-GMO corn from Mexico, then hit up Kernel of Truth Organics in Boyle Heights. Locally grown corn, go with Tehachapi Grain Project whenever their corn tortillas are ready for production. I still think the best machine-made corn tortillas in Southern California come from Miramar Tortilleria in East L.A. — thick, big, with an earthy smell and taste that's the hallmark of great masa. Only Kernel of Truth's tortillas are in this year's tournament, because that's how tough we judges are and that's how amazing our tortilla scene is.
But amazing tortillas don't guarantee that the public will buy them. Which leads to…
Taco María's tortillas are top notch, even though the Costa Mesa restaurant is temporarily closed. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
I noticed both Taco María and Tallula's are in this year's tournament, even though both of them closed this summer. So does this mean we can still taste their corn tortillas?
In a word, maybe. While both sadly closed down — Tallula's, it seems permanently; Taco María, for a bit until chef-owner Carlos Salgado finds a new location because the decade-long lease on his original Costa Mesa location expired this summer — I kept them in the tournament because we had already started it and it would've been impossible to replay, um, some matchups. If either of them win my bracket — Tallula's is #1 because they were in the Fuerte Four last year, while Taco María is #2 — then they'll be in our grand finale Oct. 8 at Smorgasburg LA at the Row DTLA. And historically, our finalists sell to the public. But my bracket is hard, and we've just finished the first round.
I kept Tallula's and Taco María because they deserved to have one last run, but also as a challenge to all of y'all. We don't do this #tortillatournament for personal glory, we do it to celebrate tortilla culture in Southern California, and to push YOU to travel and try them. Not enough of ustedes are supporting our winners, because they keep shutting down. As I mentioned in my first article for this run, two Suave 16 finalists from last year — El Burrito House in Bell, and Maria's Tortillas in Westchester — shut down and didn't return. This past summer also saw the closure of Juanita's Tortillería in Compton, which had been in business for 30-plus years.
Folks: if you can't keep great tortillas alive in SoCal, who can?
Got a fluffy tortilla question? Ask the Tortilla Expert at mexicanwithglasses@gmail.com. The more obscure, the better!