Tortillas de Maíz Blanco Chalqueño

Estado de México, the old Chalco region east of the Valley of Mexico, is where this tortilla belongs. Chalqueño corn grows in the high central valleys, near the cold mornings and volcanic soil that sit between Chalco, Amecameca, Ixtapaluca, and the slopes watched by Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl. This is not a flour tortilla. Flour tortillas are northern, except for the genuine pulque-leavened wheat tortillas of the Hidalgo Sierra, which are their own lineage. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

The ingredient is white Chalqueño corn. Large kernel, pale masa, a soft tortilla with enough strength to fold around beans, quelites, eggs, or a spoonful of guisado without breaking in your hand. There are no chiles here. No herbs. No manteca. The flavor comes from corn, cal, water, and the comal. If that sounds plain, you haven't eaten a tortilla made from fresh nixtamal.

I learned the rhythm from women who did not measure because their hands had been measuring since childhood: cook the corn just until the skin slips, rest it overnight, rinse without stripping it naked, grind while it still smells sweet and mineral, press, flip, flip again, puff. Tortillas start with nixtamal. Masa harina is useful in a hurry, but do not pass it off as the same thing. Así se hace y punto.