this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024

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How Tortillas Lost Their Magic (www.theatlantic.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

40 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They have a good point. I did research into cornbread for a project and it's suffered from the same issue as tortillas. Most cornmeal that you buy in the store nowadays tastes like sawdust and has to be enriched with a bunch of stuff to make it preserve longer. Originally southern-style cornbread had zero added sugar in it, but most recipes nowadays call for a tablespoon of sugar to balance out the flavor of the sawdust cornmeal so it ends up just tasting like nothing. You don't do that if you use good, heirloom corn, and it actually has flavor.

It ultimately comes down to the quality of the corn and the method that they use to process it and to maximize profits. Stone ground cornmeal yields a better product, but is less efficient.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'm going to be honest here, I'm highly skeptical of the quality of cornmeal leading to lower quality tortillas. This is mainly because we already know why they are bad in the states. Not to mention the comment iteself is written like it was a conclusion made in conjecture.

Please cite the study you read/wrote that concludes cornmeal is the reason behind why corn tortillas are so bad in the us and that the deterioration of cornmeal is what led to it.

(Spoiler for anyone reading this, they didn't have a source and were talking out of their ass about this subject. 0 evidence to back up their claim. Typical of lemmy.)

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The quality of any ingredients has a huge effect on the intensity of flavors. Check out the differences in free range/ field chicken eggs vs indoor/caged/ feed eggs

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't need to check out the differences in other foods because that isn't relevant to this discussion. It may be relevant but then you would need to provide evidence of that connection, when it would be probably easier to cite the original source they spoke of, instead of having to provide two different sets of data.

I'm also curious how the degradation of cornmeal even happened, which I'm sure this study would touch on.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There are a few heirloom plants that bear fruit with more intense flavor than industrial crops, which is a pretty well known fact if you are into food as a business/ home cook/ attend farmers market etc

Tomatoes here https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-heirloom-tomatoes-taste-so-good/

Farmer brags about corn http://masienda.com/blogs/learn/about-heirloom-corn#%3A%7E%3Atext=In+this+case%2C+heirloom+corn%2Con+to+the+next+generation.

Mentions of the distinct taste https://www.reddit.com/r/farming/comments/15a83zu/why_the_nostalgic_flavor_of_this_heirloom_corn_is/

https://tinybutmightyfoods.com/why-heirloom/

Like this is common knowledge, it's specifically selected for flavor and grown in different ways. Not sure why you think one plant is going to be the same as another variety of the plant.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The point of my comment was to call out the comment poster because it's obvious they were using their own conjecture and just saying "I did a study." Very common in this community because people just trust what other people say on face value. The fact they never followed up with anything at all means it was a bot or a dumbass just spouting off at the mouth about some bullshit. I appreciate you taking the time to find similar studies though, thank you.

I was not arguing anything except, "please show me where you read that" because I don't know about this subject. But if you make a claim about a subject, you should be able to back it up or you're lying.

I find it hard to buy that Mexican tortilla companies somehow buy only heirloom corn and American companies don't. We know exactly why the tortillas suck in the US and it's not cornmeal degradation ffs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Dude you are just super ignorant about food.

Like - can you imagine the idea that the tortillas he's talking about are not factory made? Like maybe locally grown produce is used for hand made stuff?

You should know their are regional differences in how foods are produced.

People aren't going to hold your hand so you can what's common knowledge. But

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I absolutely reject the notion of food science being common knowledge. If you can't back up what you say with anything when asked, you are simply lying, full of shit, or haven't actually proved what you claimed.

Yes I know there are regional differences in how food is made that is my whole point. I'm saying there is difference in quality between the two countries, but that has no link to degradation of cornmeal which is what the op claimed, said "I did a study" and everyone just believed them when they quite literally cannot backup what they said.

How hard is it to keep your conjecture to yourself or just simply backup what you claimed?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

People aren't going to hold your hand. If you don't believe it, go look it up and refute it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That's not how it works tho. If you make a claim, the responsibilities of evidence are on the person who made the claim.

Can't back it up? Then it's bullshit.

This is day 1 scientific method stuff, bud, it's not about holding hands, it's about whether you actually have any repeatable data to backup your claims. If you don't, you probably shouldn't be saying it as fact.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It is when your position is this

I’m going to be honest here, I’m highly skeptical of the quality of cornmeal leading to lower quality tortillas.

This is ignorant about how food works ( not food science, food in general), on top of the rest of your comment being condescending.

You aren't going to get a response from that dude, so it is working like that. Be responsible for yourself.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Well no to be more accurate, the op was full of shit and couldn't back it up when asked, thus what they said can be ignored. Like if we were in my lab, I would make you do laps for even bringing it up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

It's a good thing you aren't in charge, with brain-dead takes like "I'm going to need primary sources on food quality in correlates positively to food quality out"

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Used to live near a tortillaria that made fresh blue corn tortillas. Had to get there early because they would sell out fast, but man they were good.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Never had blue corn tortillas. Are they very different from other corn tortillas?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Unless you're like a person who is astute at picking up very minute differences, you likely won't taste a difference.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Visually appealing?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

All the downvotes don't really help. But I guess that's a contentious opinion. ha

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

It's at 0 now! No clue what that says having been previously negative haha

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Just hot air.

I've been making my own tortillas for a decade and I can tell you there's nothing newly wrong with the corn flour. It's the same it's always been.

Yeah it's always best to have heirloom with minimal processing, but I'd rather have 100 homemade tortillas with basic nixtamalized corn flour for $3 not $30

This article is a bunch of wind.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is a shitpost?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

/u/silence7 this post made me think and reflect.

This is too good for Shitposting.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

I know I wanted some variety in the news as of lately – did not see this headline coming.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Damn now I have to upgrade my tortilla game

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I can't even find corn tortillas at the store

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Wait really?

Am I sitting on a pile of corn tortilla gold?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Corn tortillas are disgusting.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Step outside. We gonna scrap.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

I'll hold their arms back while you tickle them. Then y'all can tickle me. BEST FRIENDS!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

They aren't wrong. Corn tortillas in USA are a crime to most hispanics. Go across the border and it's night and day. Same thing with the bread here.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unless you're eating at a local taqueria that makes their own (or you know a friend who makes their own), they're not wrong. Commercial corn tortillas are fucking gross, and I hated them until I had fresh ones.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unless you’re eating at a local taqueria that makes their own

Luckily there are local taquerias all over the US, even in rural areas. Better go patronize them quick before their customer base is deported.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Better go patronize them quick before their customer base is deported.

Not sure about where you are, but here the staff is more likely to be deported than the clientele. Which is a real shame, I like the staff more than my fellow patrons more often than not.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Fam, keep an eye out for offices with signs that say "Remesas" or "Envios" in the window. Those are places that help you send money back home to Latin America. Then look for a taqueria nearby. Guaranteed to be the best in town. They tend to be nearby so people can send money on their lunch breaks.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I've been ranting about this for years 🥲 Nixtamal tortillas are my favorite and very hard to find.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

El Milagro is where it's at

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Great read, seems relevant given Mexico's own drive to bring back domestic tortillas.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I prefer corn tortillas but often end up buying flour to keep at home because corn tortillas have to be warmed and flour doesn't

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You ready for an insane trick? Store your corn tortillas in the fridge. When you're ready to use some (preferably a lot at once) grab the number of tortillas you want, plus two. Heat up a pan or griddle to medium/medium-high heat and carefully place the stack of tortillas on it, dry. Let that go until you start smelling the tortillas without standing over them, then flip the whole stack. Let this go until you smell the now-bottom tortilla starting to burn, then flip the stack one last time and let it go until the other end's tortilla starts to burn. Remove the two burnt tortillas and place the rest in a tortilla warmer until you're ready to enjoy your beautifully steamed but not damp corn tortillas.

Also, if you're not warming your flour tortillas, you're really missing out. If you have a gas stove, turn the flame on low and heat up the tortillas individually directly on top of the burner. Like-fresh every single time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I got a tortilla press for Xmas last year. It really is a different experience. And I'm just using plain grocery store masa.