An integral part of the Mexican diet, tortillas are now integral to many an American meal, including desserts – and not just on May 5.
Think wraps, chips, soup, burritos, enchiladas, flautas, chimichangas, gorditas, chilaquiles, tacos and tostadas. Not everyone knows which is what, but the vernacular is familiar.
For weeks, restaurants and their suppliers have been gearing up for Cinco de Mayo, when tortillas and chips, salsa and guacamole will be devoured by the pound.
While tortillas are relatively new to some, the flat, unleavened-breadlike rounds predate the arrival of the conquistadors in the 1520s – examples of tortillas date to the early Aztecs.
In a flamingo-pink adobe building at the corner of 31st and Larimer streets, the de la Torre family measures, mixes, rolls and flattens dough made from flour on one side of a small production line, and cornmeal masa for corn tortillas on the other.
Since the 1960s, Raquelitas, named for Rachel de la Torre, or “little Rachel,” granddaughter of company founder and patriarch Salvador de la Torre, has made tortillas in Denver, making it one of the five oldest continually operated tortilla factories in the United States.
De la Torre launched his company in a small building near 19th Street and Larimer at a time when much of the street was multi-ethnic. Spanish was spoken up and down blocks in bars, restaurants and shops.
Now retired, de la Torre periodically returns to visit the family restaurant, Chelo’s – named for his wife, Consuelo – located in the space the first tortilla factory once occupied at 2012 Larimer St.
“I had a vision,” de la Torre says. “Everybody thought I was crazy, but I knew there was a market for tortillas. We were the first (in Denver) to manufacture chips and sell to the schools. We delivered them in a VW Beetle.”
People throughout the state buy Raquelitas’ made-to-order tortillas and chips. One day the demand might be for spinach, red chile or organic blue corn. Another day it might be blueberry or white corn tortillas made from corn grown specifically for Raquelitas. Like sales figures, the farm’s location is a family secret.
Growing up in northern New Mexico, chef James Sloan learned the art of tortillas from his mother. These days he is executive chef of Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur. “My grandmother passed making flour tortillas on to my mother,” he says. “For us they were what bread was for anyone else. We used them at every meal, either to scoop up food or the clean the plate.”
Sloan buys tortillas locally for the Southwestern burrito he serves at the club because it guarantees freshness.
“There are a number of small plants in Denver that make really good, first-rate tortillas. I buy from Marco’s and Raquelitas because I can get them fresh,” he says.
“Marco’s” is actually Ready Foods, a custom food processor whose success grew out of the ’60s, says vice president Marco Antonio Abarca.
“We have a modern plant, but our roots are very traditional,” he says. “My father came from Mexico in the ’50s, when there was not a lot of opportunity for Mexicans. The choice (of work) was between construction and food. My father would bring corn up from Mexico and make tortillas. I remember when I was a little boy, if the phone rang at midnight and a bar needed more tortillas, he would get up and take them. Otherwise, they would buy somewhere else.”
Tortillas not only have eased onto the American plate, they have worked their way into North American food history.
Mike Trujillo, a distributor who works closely with the de la Torres, says flour tortillas emerged in the old West, where Mexican and African-American cowboys filled tortillas with beans and rice or meat as a convenient way to eat around the campfire. Others contend the flour tortilla came from northern Mexico, where wheat is grown. Goodbye, hardtack; hello, burrito.
The “American Century Cookbook” features several tortilla recipes, including one sure to be found at any Texas potluck: the King Ranch Chicken casserole, which lends new definition to the phrase “rich dish.”
Less demanding recipes appear in a nifty new spiral-bound paperback called “101 Things to Do With a Tortilla:” a dozen desserts including Mexican apple strudel, Southwest bread pudding, tortilla cannolis and strawberry margarita squares, kissing cousins to lemon squares.
Although authentic tortillas are still made with lard in many homes, a calorie-and-cholesterol-conscious nation has persuaded most manufacturers to prepare them with vegetable or canola oil. And corn tortillas contain no gluten, making them a great alternative to bread for the gluten-intolerant.
Tortillas are not yet as ubiquitous as bread, but the Dallas-based Tortilla Industry Association says the tortilla industry is the fastest-growing segment of the baking industry.
Annual sales of tortillas exceed all other ethnic and specialty bread sales, including bagels, croissants, muffins and pita bread, according to the association.
Just as salsa surpassed ketchup, tortillas are threatening bread. Tortillas also have also gone upscale. Take note of the nibbles at your next fundraising gala. Somewhere in the mix are pinwheel-like rolls of tortillas filled with cream cheese and herbs, crab and asparagus, or rare roast beef and blue cheese.
Stephen Kleinman, a chef-instructor at Assignments Restaurant, part of the Colorado Institute of Art’s culinary program, makes tortillas for wraps, desserts and garnishes. He also encourages students to develop their own ideas.
“I’ve used them in different colors as a base for presentations as diverse as canapes, ceviche, caviar and Thai chicken,” says Kleinman, whose Szechuan chicken tacos combine Asian flavors in a Latin wrapper.
At Piscos, on Sixth Avenue, chef Erick Baack also makes innovative use of the tortilla and its variations, incorporating them into such appetizers as taquitos de pollo, seasoned chicken breast wrapped in blue and white corn tortillas; humitas, banana leaf tamales stuffed with fresh corn and served with banana salsa; empanaditas (little empanadas), half-moon turnovers filled with smoked mozzarella, dill and cheddar; or pork, brie and walnuts.
Baack also does a Venezuelan salad wrap, a spinach tortilla filled with beef, chicken or portobellos and finished with cream cheese, black beans, lettuce, tomato and avocado. He even makes a banana chimichanga, a fried flour tortilla stuffed with granola and bananas, topped with vanilla ice cream and sweet potato syrup.
“The variety of tortillas is amazing,” says Piscos owner Rick Fierro, “We think of the tortilla as something found only in Mexico, but there is a variation all over Latin and South America. As cuisine evolves, the old is incorporated into the new.”
The folks are Raquelitas are ever on the prowl for new variations of this ancient food. They eat and sleep tortillas. Or, as Schneider puts it, “You cut us and we bleed masa.”
Staff writer Ellen Sweets can be reached at 303-820-1284 or esweets@denverpost.com.
How to speak fluent “tortilla”
Chalupa: appetizer-sized, boat-shaped fried corn tortilla, filled with meat, beans or cheese, garnished with sauce, lettuce and onions.
Chilaquiles: corn tortilla pieces marinated in red or green chile; layered with a filling, sauce and cheese; and baked in a casserole.
Chimichanga: a deep-fried burrito.
Empanada: a turnover-like pie made by baking meat or fruit in dough.
Enchilada: a corn tortilla wrapped around meat, chicken, fish or vegetables
Flauta (“flute”): a corn tortilla tightly rolled around a filling, deep-fried and topped with sauce and cheese.
Gordita (Spanish for “little fat one”): a thick, bite-sized tortilla made of masa, lard and water or stock, and sometimes mashed potatoes, topped with ground pork, chorizo (sausage), cheese, shredded lettuce, onion, etc.
Quesadilla: corn, flour or wheat tortilla filled with cheese and a variety of fillings.
Taco: a fried, hard-shell flour or corn tortilla folded over a filling.
Tacos al carbon: a soft flour or corn tortilla wrapped around cooked meats (but smaller than a burrito).
Tostada: a fried flat tortilla topped with a layer of refried beans, shredded beef or chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, avocado and salsa.
– “The New Food Lover’s Companion”
Places to buy homemade tortillas
Tortilleria Chiachoahua
118 Strong St., Brighton
303-655-0573
Tortilleria Colorado
1774 W. Mississippi Ave.
303-934-9210
Tortilleria Torres
1550 W. 70th Ave.
303-426-0409
Tortilleria Victoria
4365 W. Florida Ave.
303-975-0006
Micole’s Tortilla Shop
4211 E 100th Ave.
303-457-9226
