This Is the Difference Between Real Tortillas and Industrial Tortillas

José Ralat
DEC 10 2017, 11:00AM
Not just anyone is privy to the magic of tortillas. There are secrets to the craft, almost a religiosity, and none of it is easy.


Editor's Note: Welcome to our newest column Tacology, in which taco sage José R. Ralat explores the development of tacos and taco culture from Mexico to the world. He'll tackle taco memes and myths. He'll take us to nascent taco operations across Europe and Asia. He'll get fancy pants and old school. In this installment, Ralat introduces us to the tortilla factory owner who provides Dallas' best taquerias with the best tortillas in the city.


"You don't just decide to open a tortilleria and make perfect tortillas," says Juan Araiza, owner of Araiza Tortilla Co. "You have to study and work. You have to learn about corn, all of its characteristics. Is the corn old and hard? Is it fresh and soft? What is the temperature inside the tortilleria? And what about the humidity? You need to know these types of things for the nixtamalization process." The process Araiza mentions is the pre-Hispanic foundation of the tortilla tradition going back to somewhere between 1500 BC and 1200 BC Mesoamerica. It's the introduction, cooking, and steeping of corn into an alkaline solution to separate the kernel's outer hull and imbue vitamins and minerals to create a highly nutritious product that is ground and turned into masa (dough) for tortillas. The result smells of harvest, history, and alchemy. Araiza tortillas are earthy yellow with an aroma akin to holding a cornfield in your cupped hands. The fragrance lingers for hours on your fingers. There's history and craft inside the discs. They're not flimsy, nor do they easily crack. They don't crack at all.

I had waited five years to meet Señor Araiza, and now that I'm face to face with him in his Dallas tortilleria, I'm nervous and stuttering. The 61-year-old mustachioed gentleman with a shock of gray hair is tentative. We had only met minutes before, and I was peppering the man with questions—five years' worth of questions. As we tour his facility—a line of full nixtamalization tanks here, a grinder there, tortilla-making machines and parts everywhere—he opens up. I'm finally here, the factory where arguably Dallas' best tortillas are produced.

I first learned of Araiza during a conversation with Leonardo Spencer, owner of taco al pastor-specialist El Tizoncito Taqueria. Spencer mentioned the company as his tortilla purveyor. He would say no more. Taco Stop owner Emilia Flores volunteered that she uses Araiza tortillas at her walk-up taqueria, but would only admit the tortilleria was located on Fort Worth Avenue in the city's Oak Cliff neighborhood. Initial scouting for the company's brick-and-mortar shop came up with nothing. Thankfully, Jesus Carmona, owner of Tacos Mariachi, the Tijuana-style taqueria at the edge of Dallas' Trinity Groves development, is proud to serve Araiza tortillas. On a mural on the side of the restaurant is a representation of Tijuana's Avenida Revolución along which is the shape of a building with the tortilleria's sign above the dark door.

More:
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/4x57ng/this-is-the-difference-between-real-tortillas-and-industrial-tortillas