Marigold Tortillas

Marigold flowers or “Cempasuchil “ in spanish have been used in Mexico since pre hispanic times to decorate altars for the Day of the Dead, the main reason being that these beautiful bright yellow, orange or red flowers grow abundantly in the south and centre of the country during this time of the year, around October and November.

Cempasuchil mainly has an ornamental function, but it can also be used for medicinal purposes or as a natural dye; but being edible as well and with that beautiful distinctive golden colour, nowadays is also used in cooking, or as the base of many cocktails and for that last perfect touch to decorate dishes, to me they provide the perfect ingredient to create unique recipes to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

You can dry your own marigold petals by hanging your flowers upside down tied by a piece of string ( the same way as you would dry herbs) , once they are ready, remove the petals carefully and store them in a jar.

Alternatively you can source them online or a specialty store, but they are pretty easy to find these days and you will discover many uses for them in your cooking, as I have.

These tortillas are specially created as part of my ofrenda for “El Dia De Los Muertos”.

Makes 18- 20 small tortillas.

Ingredients:

2 cups of corn flour to make tortillas.

1/2 cup dried marigold petals.

1 tsp sea salt.

1 3/4 cups of hot boiling water, approx.

Method.

Add all the dry ingredients into a medium size bowl, then pour the hot water in little by little, stir and incorporate all the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Once is manageable and the mixture has cooled down a bit you can place your masa over the kitchen counter and knead briefly, you should have a soft to touch but non sticky masa.

Heat up a non stick pan.

Then to make the tortillas follow these steps:

1. Form masa balls with the palms of your hands

2. Place into the tortilla press in-between two pieces of plastic film.

3. Press your masa down shaping a tortilla.

4. Place over a really hot non stick pan and flip over after a minute or less until both sides are cooked.

5. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of your masa.

6. Spread over the counter to allow them to cool down and then store away.

7. Alternatively if you are using them straight away keep them warm covered with a tea towel, you can reheat over a hot pan if necessary.

Note: depending on the use of these tortillas you can make them thinner or thicker, I recommend to make them thinner if they are going to be fried, but perhaps a bit thicker if they will be used for tacos as you want them to be able to hold the filling, it’s garnish and salsa.

Tips:

There are a few available brands on the market of corn flours to make tortillas, nowadays they are easier to get over the internet, I recommend to try Amazon or specialty stores, and I personally like to use a gmo free one.

You know you made a good tortilla when the steam goes inside of your tortilla forming a pocket of hot air in the middle , this might take a little practice.

The plastic film used in between the tortilla press is just a ziplock bag that I cut into two and reuse many times, to clean I simply wipe them with a bit of spray cleaner and kitchen towel.

I have found the best and most eco friendly way to store tortillas is by stacking cool down tortillas and wrapped them in bees wax paper, then store in the fridge for up to 7 days. to reheat them simply place them over a hot pan a couple of seconds on each side.

Alternatively you can also freeze them for up to a month in a ziplock bag that you can later wash and reuse, just make sure they are completely thawed before reheating.