[CH] Warming tortillas
Eggert, Len (leggert@sysplan.com)
Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:44:51 -0500
If you are fortunate enough to have a gas stove, the absolute best way
to heat tortillas is one at a time, tossed on the iron grid that usually
supports your skillets or pots, directly in the flame, which you have
set to medium to high. You have to flip it every few seconds, several
times, and if you're fast you can do this with your hand. (If you're not
fast, you soon will be.) The less dexterous or faint of heart can use
tongs, but I don't recommend it as you need some tactile feedback to do
this right. The result is a tortilla that is completely
"refreshed"--fragrant, pliable, and newly "marked" by the flame. In
other words, just like a freshly made tortilla. If you want to do a
batch of them, simply wrap them in a warm cotton dish towel as you crank
them out. This method is especially effective with flour tortillas but
works with corn tortillas too.
I figured out this trick a couple of years ago, all by myself, and
demonstrated it for my wife. Not sharing my pyromaniacal elan, she
continued to use her method, which is to wrap a few tortillas in foil
and heat them gently in a warm oven. Her method works pretty well, but
they don't taste as fresh as they do using the "flame" method. Later we
saw the ladies on the "Too Hot Tamale" cooking show demonstrating my
method, and my wife became a convert. But alas, she uses tongs.
Nuking tortillas tends to toughen them somewhat, though not as much as
some breads (pita gets like leather if microwaved too long; leftover
pizza tends to get tough in the middle of the crust and soggy on top.
All in all, most breads don't suffer microwaves well.
Finally, as several folks have pointed out, for some dishes there is no
substitute for a hot skillet with a little oil. Depends on what you're
fixin'.
Cheers
Len Eggert
leggert@sysplan.com