Homemade Flour Tortillas
As a child of first generation immigrants living in southern California, Mexican cuisine was naturally what we ate in our home. We rarely dined out, so for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, my mother prepared the foods familiar to her. Much of what she made for us had been passed down to her from her mother and grandfather, with her own touches added. I could write a book detailing all of the different dishes and flavors on our table over the years, but there are two items I remember as a constant: fresh flour tortillas and homemade salsas.
Eating fresh flour tortillas made from scratch in one’s own kitchen is an increasingly rare experience. Even when visiting family in Mexico, I notice that fewer and fewer people know how, or take the time, to make them. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a house where these were a staple. I have many memories of hovering in the kitchen and waiting for that first tortilla to come off the comal, the type of griddle used primarily for cooking tortillas. Hot off the comal, the first fresh tortilla was slathered in butter and eaten immediately by the lucky recipient. The rest were set aside for the meal. After years of recipe testing and spending afternoons in the kitchen with my mother studying her technique, I’ve finally perfected a flour tortilla recipe that captures those childhood memories and reminds me why we all fell in love with them in the first place.
