Sweet Potato and Red Caramelised Onion Tortillas.
Making tortillas at home has become something very special for me and my family , I started making tortillas as something that would help me feel closer to Mexico while living abroad.
In those years I was finding it very hard living away from my family, friends and everything I knew and was familiar with, making tortillas became truly like a therapy to me ( that’s why until this day I still call it the tortilla therapy ).
I remember well the first time I made them, it was our New York apartment’s tiny kitchen that I’m sure before me was used very little, apparently no one cooks in Manhattan and they joke about using their ovens for shoe storage.
I didn’t own a tortilla press then but I was pretty determined to make them! I think I used two heavy books and parchment paper (both massive mistakes) the first attempts where a bit bad to be honest, but soon I learned ways of making the masa to the right texture and what steps to follow in order to make them taste and look real tortilla.
But also something else came to my mind then, how is it that as a born and bred Mexican I’ve never made tortillas before, and how even at culinary school in Mexico we were more focused on learning the French techniques than learning about our own food .
So every time I was going back to Mexico to visit my family I was determined to observe and learn everything I could , picked up a few tips and ways to handle the masa and make tortillas, and finally got myself a tortilla press.
Freshly made corn tortillas is something that I definitely took for granted while growing up, it was very easy to get fresh tortillas on our table bought at the Tortilleria every time we needed them.
So even now whenever I get to visit Mexico I keep observing the cooks in my family, in the markets, in the little stalls in the streets of Mexico or how the masa is worked and handle at the traditional tortillerias, but the most important thing I have learned is the difference between a nixtamal tortilla and one made using corn flour.
Nixtamal is the authentic method and way of treating the corn to make fresh masa , this is an ancient technique in Mesoamerican cultures, the taste, texture and nutritional value of a nixtamal tortilla will always be superior to the ones made with corn flour, there is no doubt about it! and if you ever get the pleasure to visit Mexico and try them you’ll see what I mean, and if you want to learn a bit about Nixtamal check this interview I did to a small company that was making Nixtamal Tortillas in London.
Now back to my own experience making tortillas I found that in order to make them more accessible and feed my family in my home in England using corn flour is the most practical choice, we are lucky because these days you can find better quality corn flours in the market I recommend to look for the ones that are GMO free.
Making the different tortilla flavours has become a big part of exploring my creativity but also adding a touch of colour or vibrancy that makes me feel closer to my cultural roots. All of this has been inspired by the work of Chef’s like Alex Stupak and Enrique Olvera mainly, and in the early years I would recreate some of their recipes , but these days I feel more confident about my own ideas and I always try to develop my own recipes and hopefully come up with something original and unique, this is something that is very important to me!
I love coming up with different recipes and experimenting with the masa flavour and add chilli pastes, roasted vegetable purees, edible flowers or fresh herbs , in this way not only you have a beautiful accompaniment for your food , but you add extra nutrients and flavour to your tortillas, by doing this I can tailor my tortillas specially for the type of taco they are destined for.
Hope that you enjoy these ones too! and please if I inspire you in any way to make your don’t forget to tag me I would love to know.
Makes 18- 20 small tortillas (10 cm diameter ).
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil.
1/2 red onion, (cut in half moons ).
1 tsp tamari sauce.
1 tsp clear honey.
2 cups of corn flour.
1 small roasted sweet potato (about 1 cup).
1 tsp salt.
1 1/3 cup of hot kettled boiled water.
Method:
In a small frying pan heat up the olive oil and add in the sliced onion, reduce the heat and fry slowly until it turns soft, keep stirring from time to time, then add the tamari sauce and honey, stir and once it gets a bit of colour remove it from the heat and let it cool down , once is cooled down I chop it finely into a paste and add it into a big bowl (where you will mix your masa ingredients ).
Then add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and half of the water, mix with a wooden spoon and add the rest of the water. Once your masa is more manageable and less hot too touch mix it with your hands, pressing all the ingredients together, then place your masa over the kitchen counter and knead it with your hands.
Your masa should be soft to touch but not sticky, it shouldn’t be dry that breaks too easily either; you can add more corn flour or water to adjust the consistency.
Once your masa is ready cover it with a damp clean tea towel and follow the next steps:
Form a masa ball with the palms of your hands
Place it into the tortilla press in-between two pieces of plastic film.
Press your masa down shaping a tortilla.
Place over a really hot non stick pan and flip over after a minute or less until both sides are cooked.
Repeat the same procedure with the rest of your masa.
Spread your tortillas over the counter to allow them to cool down and then store away.
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 slightly thicker if they will be used for tacos as you want them to be able to hold the filling, it’s garnish and salsa.
