Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)

When you bite into a taco, you are tasting the results of an ancient chemical process called nixtamalization. It’s a technique that hasn’t changed much since 1500 BCE, and along the way it helped the Aztecs rise to power and made tortillas softer, tastier, and much more nutritious. Today, Benjamin Miller and Christina Martinez are the only chefs in Philadelphia making their tortillas from scratch, which means they practice the ancient art of nixtamalization.

Mas…Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)

Grinding corn for tortillas in Mexington and the American Dream (video)


In the growing Latino community of Lexington, Kentucky (aka Mexington), immigrant Laura Patricia Ramirez and her family suspected the new “Spanish” influx into town might mean they could earn a living providing comida Mexicana to the neighbors. First they imported fresh tortillas from Chicago, and then started making their own. Now they own a tortilla/taqueria even the gabachos love — they come for the asada and stay for the lengua. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Ramirez has the first Southern drawl-spiced Mexican accent we’ve ever encountered. God Bless THIS America, land that we love.]

Thanks to our amigo Profe Steven Alvarez for the link.

Latino USA: If You Give a Toddler a Tortilla (NPR audio)

She just wants to prepare some home made flour tortillas with her baby girl just like she did with her own mom. What’s the big deal?

NPR’s LatinoUSA explains:

April Salazar longs to make her Grandma Alice’s tortillas with her daughter. It is the same tortilla recipe her grandmother’s mother made in Baja California and later in Tucson, Arizona, after she fled the Mexican Revolution. There’s just one problem: she needs the stars to align… and the cooperation of her two-year-old daughter.

Mas…Latino USA: If You Give a Toddler a Tortilla (NPR audio)

All about the ‘Maiz’ (video)


Corn — Maiz — is central in the Mexican food culture and was first cultivated over 100 centuries ago. Here is a short tribute to maiz, the golden gift of Mother Nature. [Video by Marysol.]

Kosher for Passover nachos, and rice and beans (video, audio)


The Jewish celebration of Passover is a week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread, or “matzo” in Hebrew. Most Jews stick to matzo and avoid regular bread, wheat products, rice, corn, and beans. This may change, though, since an 800-year-old religious ban on rice and beans was just overturned.

Ingenious cooks over the centuries have found ways to make the most of matzo, by using sheets of softened matzo in place of lasagna noodles, for example, or transforming matzo crumbs into soup dumplings — so-called matzo balls. But what if you want a spicier treat, like nachos? Not to worry! This video from NBC’s TODAY SHOW has the recipe.

The rabbis’ rice and beans reprieve made NPR’s Maria Godoy a happy Hispanic:

Mas…Kosher for Passover nachos, and rice and beans (video, audio)

How to make Mexican tortillas|Cómo hacer tortillas mexicanas (video)


Este vídeo fue grabado en Chiapas, México. En él podemos ver la forma tradicional de hacer las tortillas, hechas por los mismos miembros de la comunidad de Petalcingo. Vuélvete un experto e impresiona a tus amigos. // This was recorded in Petalcingo, Chiapas, Mexico. We can see how native people of this community prepare traditional tortillas. Tortillas are typical in the Mexican gastronomy, so, if you want to become an expert and impress your friends, pay attention.