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Welcome to
Tortillas.com your online source for Tortillas and more! We
feature a wide variety of Tortilla and Mexican Food Product
Resources from one convenient location! You will find Tortilla
Products which are ideal for, both, Residential and Commercial
use! Visit us often since we continually feature New Items such
as Tortilla Presses, Tortilla Machines, Tortilla Makers,
Tortilla Warmers, Tortilla Soups and more! |
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| Tortilla Presses |
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| Tortilla Makers |
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| Tortillas or "tlaxcalli" as
they were known in the native Nahuatl language,
are thought to date back as far as 10,000 B.C.
According to Mayan legend, tortillas were
invented in ancient times by a peasant for his
hungry king. |
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In 1519, Hernán Cortés and his Conquistadores
arrived in the “New World” (modern-day Cuba and
Mexico). In 1520, in Cortés’ second letter to
the King of Spain, he describes public squares
where daily markets were held and attended by
thousands of people that bought and sold a great
variety of merchandise and foods. Among the
foods he described were
Indian corn (maize)
in grains and in the form of "flat corn bread".
This corn bread was later given the name
"tortilla" by the Spanish. |
| In
1529, the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagun,
in his expansive manuscripts -
General History of the Things of New Spain
(Historia general de las cosas de Nueva
España), described how the Aztec diet was
based on corn, tortillas, tamales and a wide
variety of chilies. His work is known as the
most complete record of Aztec eating habits and
foods. His work went on to include a total of
twelve manuscript books that expanded into a
description and history of the Aztec
civilization. |
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Traditionally,
corn tortillas were made by soaking corn kernels
in a lime/water solution, to remove their skins,
and then grinding them into
corn dough (masa). A golf ball size piece of dough was then patted down by hand and into a
thin pancake shape, It was then placed on to a
hot
griddle (comal)
and cooked on both sides; this tortilla making
process is still in use today. |
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Today, personal and
industrial tortilla making equipment facilitate
and expedite the tortilla making process.
Manually operated
wooden
tortilla presses
of the past have led to today's
industrial
tortilla machinery
which can produce thousands of tortillas per
minute. Tortillas are now not only made from
corn but from flour and wheat as well and also
come in a multitude of
flavors and
varieties,
from traditional to gourmet to organic. |
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The natural nutritional benefits of
corn and flour tortillas
have helped tortillas rise in popularity with
today's, growing, health conscious populations.
The average brand and serving size of a corn
tortilla is naturally low in fat (approximately
1 gram), low in sodium and contains calcium,
potassium and fiber. The average brand and
serving size of a flour tortilla is also low in
fat (approximately 2.5 grams) and contains iron
and B vitamins. |
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Tortillas are a staple food in Mexico and
Central America and they have gained popularity
and market share in the United States, Canada
and other countries around the world. In the
U.S., tortillas have grown from an "ethnic" food
to a mainstream food. In the U.S., tortillas
have surpassed bagels and muffins, to come only
second in place to sliced bread! Tortillas have
now become the Number 2 packaged bread product
sold in the U.S. It is estimated, by the
Tortilla Industry Association (TIA), that in the
U.S. alone, the
tortilla industry
(tortillas and its by-products -
tortilla chips,
tostada shells
and
taco shells)
has become a $6 billion a year industry. |
| Tortillas keep gaining
popularity and market share in different parts
of the world. For instance in order to better
serve the growing tortilla market in Asia, Gruma,
the world's largest producer of tortillas and
corn-based flour, recently invested hundreds of
millions of dollars opening tortilla making
plants in China and Japan. Gruma also has
tortilla plants in Mexico, Central America,
Venezuela, Great Britain, Italy and the United
States and has recently mentioned India and
Africa as possible regions for future plant
locations! |
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| Tortilla Machines |
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| Tortilla Warmers |
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their respective owners. |
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accuracy, discrepancies or changes of any information on
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