"corn tortillas" news and stories

Knock it all you want, but fried food is one of life's great pleasures.

Learn how to make tortillas soft, warm and pliable for your next taco or fajita night.

Tacodeli's "cowboy" taco. Photo: Portal and Friends/Flickr

The taco may be the perfect food. Portable and unassuming, not to mention affordable, it proffers fuss-free enjoyment for most everyone. This Slashfoodie's recent move to Austin, Texas, after residing in the taco mecca of Sunset Park, Brooklyn for three years has led him to sample Lone Star State tacos whenever possible. Naturally, a mano a mano Austin versus Sunset Park contest was inevitable.

Austin's taco scene skews toward what some might call "gringo fancy," characterized by the prominence of flour tortillas and nontraditional ingredients like bison and basil -- and fish, which is found infrequently in Sunset Park.

Brooklyn tacos, on the other hand, pay homage to one of the neighborhood's main demographics, Mexican immigrants, with tacos wrapped in two corn tortillas. They typically contain nothing more than a meat filling -- goat, lengua (tongue) and cabeza (brains) are among commonly selected options -- minced raw onion, cilantro, a spritz of lime and an optional flurry of queso fresco (white cheese).

Poll and more after the jump.

• Cook up a batch of lemon curd to serve as counterpoint to all the summer berries that are in the markets now. Lynne Sampson has recipes for the curd itself, as well as an assortment of ways to incorporate it into desserts (Lemon-Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches, Strawberry Lemon Fool and Lemon Semifreddo With Mixed Berries).
  
• This week, the Market Basket is full of popsicle molds and frozen treats.
• Danielle Centoni defends the cheesy, gooey casserole and offers up a recipe for a Mexican layered dish that uses corn tortillas and lots of cheese.
  
• Summer calls for quick cooking foods, preferably prepared outdoors. Try this Hot Flank Steak Salad With Chinese Black Bean Dressing to stay cool this season.
  

If you've been sitting on the edge of your seat rapidly surfing through the 'Net waiting to find out about tortilla prices, well, the conclusion is here. According to CNN, Mexico president Felipe Calderon has signed an agreement with businesses "to curb soaring tortilla prices and protect Mexico's poor from speculative sellers and a surge in the cost of corn driven by the U.S. ethanol industry." It also moves to allow more importation of corn from countries like the US.

So fire up those fryers and make up some tortilla chips. Your SuperBowl will have nachos! (At least, my SuperBowl will *phew!*)