Corn Tortillas

Recipe by: Leslie Brenner

Learning to make handmade corn tortillas can be life-changing. It’s so easy, and a warm, fragrant tortilla turns any leftover into a fabulous taco. Unless you have access to masa made from freshly nixamalized heirloom corn — which has started turning up at small molinas around the country — you’ll want to use masa harina, which is masa that has been dehydrated and turned into flour. Just add water and it becomes masa again — and ready to use to make tortillas.

In the past, the only widely available masa harina was made from commodity GMO corn (Maseca is the biggest brand). But now you can buy outstanding masa harina made from heirloom corn from Mexico. Produced by Masienda, it’s far more flavorful and fragrant than the commodity stuff; it comes in white, yellow, blue and rose, and is not GMO. Find it at well stocked supermarkets, or online. King Arthur also makes masa harina; it’s made from organ…