Soft Corn Tortillas
Our Soft Corn Tortillas
MASA Tortillas are a small independent business based in Bristol, UK. We have spent over a year in Mexico and Central America as well as running our very own award winning taco truck for over 7 years.
Our soft corn tortillas are a product of this vast experience and and we are determined to produce the very best tasting tortillas in the UK.
We constantly hear from our customers how hard they find it to track down good quality, authentic tortillas. Their delicious, fantastic creations let down by poor quality store-bought tortillas. Corn tortillas are the cornerstone of Mexican and Central American cuisine and good quality tortillas should be used to do the food justice.
‘Corn’ tortillas in UK supermarkets are often blended with wheat flour in an attempt to give tortillas a corn taste while maintaining malleability. This is not great news for celiacs who are having to stay ever vigilant when it comes to gluten. 100% corn tortillas found in the British supermarkets, tend to be chock full of preservatives to give them extra shelf life. Have you ever found a pack of store bought tortillas in the back of your cupboard from months ago, only to realise there’s not a spot of mould on them? What kind of preservatives must be in those things?!
Soft Corn Tortillas in Mexico
When we lived in Puerto Escondido we were woken up to the jingle sound similar to an ice cream truck. It was actually an old VW Beetle with a megaphone strapped to the top delivering fresh corn tortillas from the local tortilleria. This milk-man style delivery is what we aim to replicated here in the UK with our tortilla subscriptions. You simply cannot beat fresh corn tortillas and having them delivered to your door fresh is a treat previously only experienced in parts of Latin America.
Upon opening the box, our tortillas will transport you to Mexico with their authentic corn smell. Tortillas from MASA Tortillas are beautifully soft and malleable yet strong to avoid falling apart while eating. These versatile flat breads are used in every meal of the day in Mexico and offer a healthy, quick meal for adults and kids.
There is a tortilleria in every town in Mexico. In the UK we are not so lucky. We imported a machine from Mexico after three years of hand making tortillas for our taco truck on a ‘tortilladora’. Sensing the demand for quality fresh tortillas we opened up our supply to wholesale and retail customers and are now sending our tortillas all around the country.
Nixtamalization is the key to unlocking the nutritious power of corn. We use the very best premium, GMO Free, Gluten Free and preservative free masa to create our tortillas. Just check out our machine in our video.
White Soft Corn Tortillas
White and yellow corn tortillas are the most popular in Mexico. We produce both. Our machine lightly toasts the tortillas and we let them cool before sealing them in rapid biodegradable packaging and sending them out to you via next-day courier. (or even same day in some parts) Our tortillas currently come in one size only; 13cm. These are perfect for tacos, tostadas, quesadillas and totopos (tortilla chips). They are made from 100% corn meaning they are naturally gluten free.
Blue Soft Corn Tortillas
Made from blue corn, not artificial colours, these tortillas are fantastic for creating bright contrasting colours to your food by pairing with toppings such as avocado, lime crema and white fish. Blue corn tortillas are high in antioxidants and higher in protein and fibre than white tortillas while being lower carb. The taste difference is marginal with some people saying they have a slightly sweeter, nuttier flavour.
Blue corn tortillas come in 13cm size.
Our Process
Three years of making tortillas by hand led us to import an industrial tortilla machine. We produce the tortillas in Redfield, Bristol in our five star rated unit. Soft corn tortillas are available to collect straight off the machine on Wednesday-Friday, with Friday being our local collection and delivery only day. We personally deliver wholesale locally around Bristol on Fridays. Retail tortillas are available at selected Bristol stockists as well as straight from our little shop. Our machine produces 13cm tortillas, perfect for tacos, quesadillas, tostadas and tortilla chips!
Masa Harina
We use premium Mexican masa harina flour to make our soft corn tortillas. This pre-nixtamalized corn flour is cholesterol free and gluten free. It’s a great source of fibre and potassium and packed full of energy. We combine the flour with a little salt, water and the tiniest bit of guar gum and as a result, they are strong and malleable. Our tortillas are GMO free, vegan friendly, gluten free and preservative free. They are also suitable for freezing.
The history of tortillas
Tortillas have been a Mexican and Central American staple food for thousands of years. The first records of tortillas have them named as ‘tlaxcalli’ by the Aztecs.
Tortillas are traditionally made from corn, not wheat. Wheat was not grown in the Americas before Europeans arrived and wheat flour tortillas barely existed in Mexico and Central American until the 1970’s. Corn tortillas are made using a process called nixtamalization which involves curing maize in limewater.
The nixtamalization process allows for previously undigestible corn to be digested easily, it unlocks the nutriutional value of the maize as a gluten-free source of vitamins, fibre, minerals and protein.
Check out how to make your own tortillas on our recipe page