Tortillas de harina

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Last weekend Karina and I decided to make our own tortillas. In reality Karina was the one who made the tortillas. However I was the one who bought the ingredients. So I did my part.

Overall I can say that the experience was both messy and fun. The tortillas it turned out were a bit on the chewy side. It isn't every day that Karina makes tortillas by hand, so neither of us had perfected the art. On the streets there are always women whipping balls of flour out of big buckets and pinching them into perfect tortillas. But inside Karina's kitchen there were just two clumsy goof balls smearing wet flour on plates to smush out some sort of tortilla shape.

When all was said and done we sat down to feast upon the tower of tortillas and beans. The tortillas were thick and really chewy, but I ate it all with a smile. When I told Karina they were great she could see right through me. I guess it was my overworked jaw breaking a sweat against the endless labor of chewing the tortillas into a gummy mush, so that I could swallow. I had to clarify that, although the consistency was leathery at best, the flavor was exquisite.

"You see, Babe... sometimes... You can look past all the chewing if... well what I mean is... these taste just as good as they are hard to swallow."

She would have probably been upset at that remark if she hadn't have been eating the same thing. We both were exhausted after eating, because whenever we weren't trying to wolf down these rubber tortillas, we were laughing at how difficult they were to eat. We made it our goal to perfect the recipe. After all being a Honduran and not knowing how to make a flour tortilla is like living in Buffalo and not knowing how to make a Pizza.

Until we perfect the recipe I'll just buy my tortillas off the street vendors.

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Photos

Tortillas
It all starts off with a blob.

Dough balls.
Mmmm.... right?

Spinnin in
Basically just like making pizza dough.

Tasty
We were both pretty excited before we started eating them.

Watch out!
I got dough on my lense.

Hungry?
Karina is hand fed, but she needs glasses and sometimes can't tell where the food ends and my fingers begin.

Comments

[Tio Tom]

Barb could show you how . . .
Barb makes 'em all the time. We can't wait for a tortillafest con ustedes!

[Tio Tom]

Was it cold?
Karina is wearing a sweater - was it cold? Anyways - never wear black when making things out of flour.

[Eric Chaffee]

Mastery
In "Outliers" Malcolm Gladwell reports that it takes 10,000 hours to master a discipline. While this may be broader than merely making tortillas (probably including cooking, in general) tell Karina not to despair. Nobody is born as a tortilla master. Like most things, it takes plenty of practice. ~eric.

[Matthew Roberts]

nice
Looks likes you two had some real fun hombre!!

[eric Chaffee]

Tortillas
PS: -- Aren't tortillas were made with corn flour? (That would be much less elastic, as corn has less gluten.) Maybe you need to ask the vendor ladies what they use.

[Julie]

I love these photos!
The one where she's just about to throw the dough at you is my favorite, of course.

[Patti]

Love and Laughter
From the photos, it looks like you two have the MAIN ingredient needed to enjoy anything...

[Tio Tom]

Just like I said before . . .
Any time you've blogged about food you've gotten more comments than any other topic. Anyways - what are you feeding her in that last picture? It looks like a grub. Tom

[mom]

for eric......
I could be wrong, BUT I believe there are corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas (at least in my grocery store).

[mom]

you two will get it right....keep trying
This reminds me of my first effort at making good pies. My grandmother was the "queen" of pie-making, and I wanted to impress my Grandpa with a delicious pie. It was Thanksgiving, and I had managed to bake 2 lovely (looking) pies to contribute to the family feast. Grandma had passed away a few years earlier.....and - well - someone had to tackle the job!(how difficult could it be to knock out a couple of pies??) My Grandpa was served his piece and really tried his very best to look like he was enjoying the experience, but my crust was not light and flakey (like Grandma's)......it was more like concrete! It finally did my Grandpa in.......we all had a good laugh (and no dessert).