Kristen Grace

Tortillas: The Humble Little Discs Holding Civilization Together

Food, Food Ingredient

Let’s talk about tortillas.

Not because tortillas are glamorous. They are, objectively, flat circles whose primary professional responsibility is keeping your dinner from falling into your lap.

But tortillas have been doing this job for thousands of years, which means they have considerably more experience than most of us do at holding things together.

Tacos? Tortilla.

Enchiladas? Tortilla.

Quesadillas? Tortilla.

Tortilla chips? Tortilla.

Breakfast burrito containing enough eggs, cheese, potatoes, and bacon to qualify as a structural engineering project? Also tortilla.

And yet, most of us wander through the grocery store, toss a package into the cart, and never stop to consider that we’re buying one of the oldest and most important foods in the Americas.

So naturally, I decided to investigate.

Because apparently I can’t just eat a taco. I have to know the socioeconomic and agricultural history of the taco first.

tortilla toss

What Exactly Is a Tortilla?

At its most basic, a tortilla is a thin, flat, round bread.

Although calling a corn tortilla “bread” is technically useful, it doesn’t quite capture what makes it special.

Traditional corn tortillas are made from maize that has undergone a process called nixtamalization. The treated corn is ground into a dough called masa, shaped into thin rounds, and cooked, traditionally on a hot griddle called a comal.

Flour tortillas are made from wheat flour, water, salt, and usually some kind of fat, such as lard, shortening, or oil.

Then there is the modern grocery store tortilla aisle, where apparently we have decided that one circular piece of bread is insufficient.

Now we have:

  • Corn tortillas
  • Flour tortillas
  • Whole-wheat tortillas
  • Spinach tortillas
  • Tomato tortillas
  • Gluten-free tortillas
  • Low-carb tortillas
  • High-protein tortillas
  • Mini tortillas
  • Street taco tortillas
  • Fajita tortillas
  • Burrito tortillas
  • Tortillas that have so much added fiber they seem personally offended by your digestive system

But despite all these modern variations, the tortilla story starts with something much older:

maize.

maize

The Ancient Origins of the Tortilla

The history of the tortilla begins with corn, or maize, which was domesticated in Mesoamerica thousands of years ago.

Archaeological evidence indicates that maize cultivation goes back roughly 9,000 years.

That means humans have been messing around with corn for a very, very long time.

Eventually, Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica developed sophisticated methods for processing maize, including nixtamalization.

The tortilla became an important staple throughout the region and was eaten by civilizations including the Maya and Aztec.

And this wasn’t simply a case of somebody deciding that round food was cute.

Maize was central to Mesoamerican agriculture and food systems. Turning it into masa and tortillas created a practical, versatile food that could accompany other ingredients or serve as the foundation of a meal.

In other words, people thousands of years ago had already figured out the basic principle of dinner:

Put delicious things on carbs.

Honestly, we haven’t improved upon this very much.

What Does “Nixtamalization” Mean?

This is where the tortilla gets nerdy.

And I promise you, this is actually interesting.

Nixtamalization is the traditional process of treating dried maize with an alkaline substance, commonly calcium hydroxide, also called lime.

And before you start thinking about margaritas, this is not the same lime as the green citrus fruit.

Please don’t make a tortilla with tequila.

Although if you do, I would like to hear about it.

During nixtamalization, maize is cooked and soaked in an alkaline solution. The softened kernels are then washed and ground into masa.

This process does several things.

It changes the texture and flavor of the corn, makes the kernels easier to grind, and alters the nutritional characteristics of the maize.

It can also increase the calcium content of the resulting food and improve the availability of niacin.

That last part is particularly important historically because maize naturally contains niacin, but much of it isn’t readily available to the human body in untreated maize.

Nixtamalization helps make more of that niacin available.

So the tortilla isn’t just a convenient way to transport taco fillings.

It’s the final product of a very clever piece of ancient food science.

People figured this out thousands of years ago.

Meanwhile, I still occasionally burn toast.

Why Did People Need to Nixtamalize Corn?

Because eating corn isn’t simply a matter of picking an ear off the stalk and saying, “Dinner!”

Well, technically you can eat corn that way.

But turning dried maize into a useful staple requires processing.

Nixtamalization improves the physical characteristics of maize and makes it suitable for grinding into masa.

More importantly, it changes the nutritional profile of the food.

This is one reason traditional food-processing techniques deserve more respect than they sometimes get.

We tend to imagine “ancient people” as wandering around discovering fire and being generally confused.

Meanwhile, they were developing sophisticated methods of processing staple crops that modern food scientists still study.

Ancient people:

“Let’s soak this corn in an alkaline solution.”

Modern person:

“I microwaved the tortilla for 37 seconds and now it’s a hockey puck.”

Enter the Spanish: The Birth of the Flour Tortilla

Corn tortillas predate European contact by thousands of years.

Flour tortillas are a much later development.

When the Spanish arrived in the Americas in the 16th century, they brought crops and livestock that had not previously existed in Mesoamerican food systems, including wheat.

Wheat cultivation eventually became particularly important in northern Mexico.

And once wheat flour became available, people developed their own regional traditions of making flatbreads from it.

Thus, the flour tortilla entered the story.

The result is one of those culinary developments that sounds simple but represents centuries of cultural exchange:

Corn tortilla: Indigenous Mesoamerican tradition.

Flour tortilla: Wheat introduced from Europe, then incorporated into Mexican regional cuisine.

Neither one is simply “the original tortilla.”

They belong to different historical and culinary traditions.

Corn Tortillas vs. Flour Tortillas

And now we arrive at the subject guaranteed to start an argument at a Mexican restaurant.

Corn or flour?

Please remain calm.

Corn Tortillas

Corn tortillas are traditionally made with masa from nixtamalized maize.

They tend to have a more pronounced earthy, slightly nutty corn flavor and a relatively firm texture.

Corn tortillas are especially associated with dishes such as:

  • Tacos
  • Enchiladas
  • Tostadas
  • Chilaquiles
  • Tortilla soup
  • Tortilla chips

They’re also naturally gluten-free because corn does not contain gluten.

Flour Tortillas

Flour tortillas are made with wheat flour and generally contain added fat.

They’re softer, more elastic, and often easier to roll and fold without catastrophic structural failure.

That’s why they’re particularly useful for:

  • Burritos
  • Quesadillas
  • Wraps
  • Fajitas
  • Breakfast burritos

If you’ve ever tried stuffing an enormous amount of rice, beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and questionable optimism into a corn tortilla, you already understand why flour tortillas have their place.

A corn tortilla could never.

Are Tortillas Healthy?

Here comes the part where we’re supposed to decide whether tortillas are “good” or “bad.”

I reject the premise.

A tortilla is food.

Its nutritional value depends on what kind of tortilla you’re eating, how much you’re eating, and what you’ve stuffed inside it.

A basic corn tortilla can provide carbohydrates, some protein, fiber, minerals, and other nutrients.

Flour tortillas vary considerably depending on the recipe and brand. Some are relatively simple, while others contain added fats, preservatives, emulsifiers, fibers, or other ingredients.

Whole-grain versions can provide more fiber than tortillas made primarily from refined flour.

And then we have the modern health-food tortilla.

Oh, bless it.

Some tortillas now advertise:

HIGH PROTEIN!

LOW CARB!

EXTRA FIBER!

GLUTEN FREE!

At some point, I expect a tortilla to announce that it has completed a master’s degree and is available for a job interview.

These products can absolutely be useful, particularly for people looking for specific nutritional characteristics. But “healthy” isn’t a magical property bestowed upon something because the package uses green lettering.

Read the nutrition label.

Also read the ingredient list.

Your tortilla is allowed to have a personality.

The Pros of Tortillas

They’re Ridiculously Versatile

Tortillas might be one of the hardest-working foods in your kitchen.

They can become a:

Taco.

Wrap.

Quesadilla.

Enchilada.

Tostada.

Chip.

Soup topping.

Breakfast vehicle.

Emergency leftover disposal system.

You can put almost anything inside a tortilla.

This makes tortillas particularly useful when you’re standing in front of the refrigerator thinking:

“I have three ingredients and absolutely no plan.”

Congratulations.

You have the beginnings of a taco.

They’re Convenient

Tortillas require essentially no preparation.

Open package.

Heat.

Fill.

Fold.

Eat.

Compare that with homemade bread, where suddenly you’re measuring yeast, kneading dough, waiting for it to rise, and questioning whether your kitchen temperature has become a hostile environment.

Tortillas said:

“Relax. I got this.”

They’re Portable

The tortilla is basically nature’s edible lunch container.

You can wrap food inside it and take it with you without needing a plate and fork.

This is particularly helpful for lunches, picnics, road trips, and those days when eating over the kitchen sink feels like a legitimate lifestyle choice.

Corn Tortillas Have a Remarkable History

One of the most interesting things about tortillas is that they connect modern food to ancient food traditions.

When you eat a corn tortilla, you’re eating something descended from culinary practices developed by Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica thousands of years ago.

That little package in your grocery cart has a surprisingly impressive résumé.

The Cons of Tortillas

Tortillas Make Portion Control Suspiciously Easy

The tortilla itself isn’t necessarily the problem.

It’s the fact that tortillas make it ridiculously easy to keep eating.

One taco.

Fine.

Two tacos.

Still reasonable.

Three tacos.

We’re having fun.

Four tacos.

Suddenly we’re negotiating with ourselves.

“Well, technically they’re small.”

This is how it starts.

Some Packaged Tortillas Contain a Lot of Extras

Not all tortillas are created equally.

Some packaged tortillas contain relatively few ingredients.

Others contain added oils, preservatives, gums, emulsifiers, fibers, sweeteners, or other ingredients designed to improve texture, shelf life, or nutritional characteristics.

That doesn’t automatically make them unhealthy.

It simply means that if you’re interested in what you’re eating, the ingredient list is worth reading.

Flour Tortillas Can Be Surprisingly Calorie-Dense

A small flour tortilla and a giant burrito tortilla are not nutritionally equivalent.

This seems obvious.

And yet the giant tortilla has a way of looking at you from the package and whispering:

“We’re basically the same.”

We are not.

Size matters.

Especially when your tortilla is large enough to function as a satellite dish.

Corn Tortillas Can Be Fragile

Corn tortillas have many wonderful qualities.

Being indestructible is not one of them.

A fresh corn tortilla is wonderfully pliable.

A cold tortilla filled with beans, meat, cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and seventeen other ingredients can suddenly disintegrate like it has just received devastating personal news.

Heating your tortillas helps.

So does not treating them like a construction site.

tortilla

What Can You Do With Tortillas?

Pretty much everything.

Tacos

Obviously.

Fill them with meat, fish, seafood, beans, vegetables, cheese, salsa, or whatever else makes you happy.

Tacos are basically the tortilla saying:

“Give me your leftovers. I will make them respectable.”

Enchiladas

Corn tortillas are filled, rolled, covered with sauce, and baked.

It’s one of the best examples of a tortilla serving as both food and infrastructure.

Quesadillas

Cheese goes inside.

Tortilla goes around it.

Heat is applied.

This is not complicated.

It is also one of humanity’s greatest achievements.

Burritos

Flour tortillas are particularly useful here because they can stretch and fold around a substantial filling.

Rice, beans, meat, vegetables, cheese, salsa, sour cream…

At some point, you’re no longer making a burrito.

You’re constructing a food-based retaining wall.

Tostadas

A tortilla is cooked until crisp and becomes a base for toppings.

It’s basically the tortilla saying:

“Fine. I’ll be a plate.”

Tortilla Chips

Cut tortillas into pieces and fry or bake them.

Add salsa.

Add guacamole.

Add queso.

At this point, nutritional restraint has left the building, but at least everyone is having a nice time.

Chilaquiles

Tortilla pieces are cooked with salsa and topped with ingredients such as cheese, crema, onions, eggs, or meat.

This is one of those dishes that makes me wonder why we don’t eat tortilla chips for breakfast more often.

Tortilla Soup

Crispy tortilla strips are commonly used as a topping for tortilla soup, providing a crunchy contrast to the broth.

Because apparently soup needed a little texture drama.

Fresh vs. Store-Bought Tortillas

Fresh tortillas can be incredible.

A warm corn tortilla made from freshly prepared masa has a flavor and texture that can make the supermarket version feel like its distant cousin who works in an office park.

But here’s the thing:

I like convenience.

Sometimes I don’t want to make tortillas.

Sometimes I want to open a package.

Sometimes I have dinner to make, laundry to ignore, and a child asking me questions that could have been answered by Google.

Store-bought tortillas are perfectly legitimate.

Homemade food is wonderful.

Convenient food is also wonderful.

Nobody gets a medal for making their own tortillas on a Tuesday.

But YOU get a medal for reading this far!

Can You Freeze Tortillas?

Yes.

Tortillas freeze well, making them a useful ingredient to keep on hand.

If you don’t expect to use an entire package before it starts developing mysterious refrigerator characteristics, freezing can help prevent waste.

Package them well, separate them if necessary, and thaw what you need.

Because the alternative is finding a tortilla in the refrigerator three weeks later that has achieved the structural integrity of cardboard.

The Bottom Line on Tortillas

Tortillas are deceptively simple.

They’re little circles of cooked dough, but their history is anything but simple.

Corn tortillas are rooted in ancient Indigenous food traditions of Mesoamerica and rely on the sophisticated process of nixtamalization. That process doesn’t merely make corn easier to work with. It changes its nutritional properties and helped make maize a valuable staple food.

Flour tortillas developed later, following the introduction of wheat to the Americas, and became particularly important in northern Mexico.

Today, tortillas have traveled far beyond their original contexts.

They’re everywhere.

Mexican restaurants.

American supermarkets.

Lunchboxes.

Food trucks.

Fast food.

Home kitchens.

And probably the refrigerator of someone currently eating shredded cheese directly from the bag.

Tortillas are cheap, adaptable, portable, and capable of turning an assortment of ingredients into an actual meal.

They also have one of the most impressive culinary histories you can fit into something that is approximately the size of a dinner plate.

So the next time you pick up a package of tortillas, remember:

You’re not just buying flat bread.

You’re buying thousands of years of agricultural history, Indigenous food science, cultural exchange, and culinary evolution.

And also a convenient way to get cheese into your face.

Honestly, that’s a pretty solid résumé.

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