Searching for a better flour tortilla

[siejczuk]

About a year ago my local mexican market in the South bay stopped carrying my favorite style of La Rosa flour tortilla. The replacement (while still made by La rosa) seems to have less fat and becomes very dry and brittle when warmed on the grill. Any suggestions in the San Jose/Campbell area?

[chefj]

They are really easy to make.

[3ringcircus]

I'm quite fond of the El Molino flour tortillas that I get at a Hispanic market in Concord.

[Bigshadetree]

I think the Costco tortillas the posts are referring to are the ones from the Tortilla Factory in San Diego. They are quite good - they are raw so they need to be cooked - very quick on a hot grill pan. The only problem I have with them is the quantity - they come in two large packages - not complaining but I usually cannot eat all of them by the expiration date.
I do like the tortillas from El Molino - 1500 Monument Blvd. in Concord. El Molino can be hard to find as it is in the back of a small strip mall - no sign out front. If you head east on Monument from 680 go about 1 mile and make a right on Reganti Dr. (stop light) The shopping center on the left hand side as you go down Reganti is where El Molino is located (Afghan market is also there) El Molino is in the very back of the shopping center on Reganti (last store) Again I do not think there is a sign - they sell different combination plates and make great flour tortillas. Carnitas sold by the pound are also very good.

[kc72]

No, the ones in my fridge say TortillaLand

[wolfe]

Both of you are right. Tortillaland is the name given to the brand of uncooked tortillas produced by "Porkyland Tortilla Factory, based in San Diego, CA, has been making the best fresh tortillas, flour tortillas and uncooked flour tortillas in So. California for two decades."

[wolfe]

Perhaps because of this exchange the tortillas at the Richmond Costco were,this last weekend, moved to the end cooler closest the produce. Almost the entire cooler was filled with tortillas.

[cvhound]

That's funny, b/c I noticed they'd been moved to the refrigerated end cap aisle (in the closed, upright cooler, not the open coolers) at the Danville store as well. I think the manufacturer's instant rebate ends this month. I can't recall the exact price, but I think with the rebate, the total cost came to $4.50 or so for the huge pack of tortillas.

[3ringcircus]

El Molino is the last shop in that shopping center, on the Reganti side of it.

The Tortillaland "cook it yourself" tortillas from Costco are good, but I like the El Molino better... they have more body.

Tortillaland also makes a similar "cook it yourself" Whole Wheat Chapati.

[siejczuk]

I will look for the El Molino brand in the South bay. Probably won't be too difficult.
Thanks

[SarahKC]

I occasionally go to a taqueria and purchase tortillas from them. I've gotten a few funny looks but no one has refused to sell them to me. If you have a taqueria you like, maybe it's a way to go. I've never had the Costco ones so can't compare.

[adrienne156]

I recently got turned onto Costco's preservative-free raw flour tortillas that can be found in the refrigerated case and LOVE them. They are made with canola oil but the flavor of these is great.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605368
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/42537
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/448349

[Robert Lauriston]

Those are great. I hate rapeseed oil but I can't taste it.

[kc72]

Agree w/ the Costco ones also

[wolfe]

How do they hold up to freezing? I just noticed them today and that is a kind of big bag. Yes Robert change comes hard. I still call call the larger New York Airport Idlewild.

[adrienne156]

I've never frozen them, but would expect them to hold up well if they were tightly sealed (e.g. cryovaced). Of the other raw/frozen stuff (naan, chapatis) that I've used, I've found that the product has to be thawed completely before use and hopefully you won't get any freezer taste.

[cvhound]

Those tortillas are great! We're a household of two, so we freeze ours all the time. They come in two packs of 20 tortillas each, so I usually freeze one un-opened pack in a ziploc freezer bag (probably not necessarily, but I figure it can't hurt) and let it defrost in the fridge before using.

We don't go through our tortillas too quickly, so what I do with the other pack is place 4-5 tortillas between a sheet of Glad Press & Seal (1 servings worth for us) and keep those sealed packs in the fridge. That way, they never dry out or get moldy, no matter how long we keep them in the fridge.

[wolfe]

Thank you, that is exactly my situation and my efforts to save unfinished packs of TJ's tortillas usually leaves a few bags that look like warped brownish records in the freezer.

[Robert Lauriston]

The Tortillaland uncooked flour tortillas at Costco come in resealable "zipper" two-packs, each containing around 20 tortillas and a "do not eat" desiccant thingy, so obviously drying out is not the issue it is with regular tortillas.

Once you open a package, they're supposed to keep for 20 days, but I suspect they would probably last longer if you somehow managed to resist eating them. We've never had them around long enough for them to go bad.

[adrienne156]

Which Costco do you buy yours from Robert? I was told that Richmond doesn't carry them but haven't actually looked because I've been going to the Fremont Costco lately.

[Robert Lauriston]

I bought some at Richmond, but not recently. I couldn't find them, had to ask the manager where they were.

[kc72]

They moved it right next to/over the milk the last time I was there (Richmond).

[wolfe]

That's where I saw them yesterday, top shelf IIRC.

[kc72]

Not over the milk anymore, but they are top shelf mid-way down the milk aisle.

Also, there's a instant rebate right now dropping them down to $5.09

[cvhound]

Robert, probably not an issue for you since it sounds like you eat your packages fairly quickly which isn't the case for us. Wolfe, I've found that as time goes by, the tortillas tend to stick together and are difficult to separate without tearing, which is why I repackage them into single-serve packets. Again, probably not an issue for those who eat their tortillas fairly quickly, but we probably have tortillas a couple of times a month, if that. However, we love the taste of the Tortillaland tortillas and I haven't seen them sold anywhere else in smaller packages, which is why we buy ours at Costco.

We usually buy ours at the Danville store. The Danville store has always had the tortillas in the milk fridge, near the shreddd cheese, canned pancake batter and uncooked Indian rotis.

[tranewreck]

Has anyone seen them at the SF Costco?