Toronto: ISO tortilla press

[Olivia]

The title says it all: I'm looking to buy a tortilla press, but haven't been looking in the right places.

Thanks!

[CanadaGirl]

I'm not I'm toronto, but I found one at HomeSense and have seen them their semi-regularly. I have an amazing little kitchen supply store me, but I always check HomeSense first - never know what'll be there!

[Olivia]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the replies. I'll probably check out St. Lawrence as that's closest to me. I'm an east-ender, and the only place (I've found) that carries corn tortillas is Sun Valley, and they're the pre-bagged, refrigerated, preservative-laden jobbies.

As for the masa, I have some MaSeCa, and was going to make my own using that.

Again, thanks very much.

[TorontoJo]

If you're ever downtown, you need to stop in at La Tortilleria in Kensington Market and pick up their fresh corn tortillas. Nothing like the nasty preservative-laden ones you can sometimes find in grocery stores. Fresh made every day, and ridiculously cheap (something like $3 for a kilo of tortillas). They're excellent.

[hari mirch]

I like La Tortilleria (several locations), but "El Popocatepetl" tortillas, shipped in from Chicago by Tifco, are pretty good and available at some No Frills (e.g. Dufferin Mall).

When using a tortilla press, use thin sheets of plastic like a thin, clear plastic bag, not the wax paper sometimes suggested.

[helenhelen]

i use plastic (saran) wrap for rolling. i don't have a tortilla press and just roll mine out with a rolling between in between plastic wrap. they are lopsided and not round, but they taste great! i will never buy store bought tortillas again.. so quick and easy to make at home.

[currycue]

Well, if you're in the east end, check out the chapati presses in Little India.

[Olivia]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant! GREAT idea. Will do. Thanks so much.

[Gary]

The housewares store in the middle of the upper level of the St. Lawrence Market sells them. I bought a compact metal one (aluminum? stainless steel?) about 6 months ago for around $20 or $25. You can also purchase bags of masa downstairs at Lively Life foods near Rube's Rice.

Although, I have to say that I've had very little luck getting my tortillas to be thin yet strong enough to survive transfer from press to pan, even after trying various water-masa ratios and tricks like putting plastic on the press. I guess I'm just clumsy -- I've reverted to buying the pre-made frozen corn tortillas.

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St. Lawrence Market
92 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E, CA

[wontonfm]

I too have had only limited success with the homemade tortillas. I would HIGHLY recommend buying the fresh tortillas from La Tortilleria in Kensington. They are great quality and generally beat the frozen stuff.

WON

[justsayn]

La Tortilleria is great and they have several locations.

[TorontoJo]

Oddly enough, I bought mine at Tap Phong in Chinatown. That store has everything.

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Tap Phong
360 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T, CA

[plug]

some chinese folks use the tortilla presses to make dumplings (the skin) to save time from rolling out each one... thats my guess why tap phong would carry an item that would be similar to/same as a tortilla press.

[helenhelen]

how much was it?

[TorontoJo]

Hmm -- not much. They had 2 choices -- one was cast iron and one was cast aluminum. I went with the aluminum one, which was cheaper. I think it was only $10 or $11.

Use a large freezer bag, cut open. It's easier to deal with than the thin plastic wrap.

[helenhelen]

thanks for the tip. i only saw one kind (after scouring the loaded shelves everywhere) and i got the aluminum one for $15.99

[TorontoJo]

You were a brave woman, searching Tap Phong on your own there! :) I was only able to find them after asking the woman at the front counter. It took a bit of hand gesturing and slow English, but she figured it out and sent someone to show me where they were.

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Tap Phong
360 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5T, CA

[helenhelen]

actually, after scouring the shelves for awhile, i did ask one of the staff who looked confused at first but then told me where to find it.

i find the staff there hilarious.. i was people watching while scouring the shelves and would see people go up to some of the floor staff to ask something, only to get ignored. this one guy went up to a woman to ask if they had something, she turned around and quietly mumbled something (probably no, which he likely didn't hear because she barely whispered it and her back was turned) and then started to walk away. he followed for a bit at first because he thought maybe she was leading him to it, but then he realized she was just walking away from him without having answered his question. i suspect some of the staff don't speak english, but it's funny how they don't ask someone in the store who does for help when approached by customers.

[autopi]

and the next trick is to find some fresh masa in toronto ... there's a stand that sells it at the evergreen brickworks, but only in rather large-ish quantities. couldn't find it in kensington market, but perhaps i wasn't looking in the right places.

[wontonfm]

I bought mine in Kensington Market at either Perola or the other Latin American shop on the same side of the street.

WON
http://whatsonmyplate.net

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Perola
247 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T, CA