h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The mexican, indeed American (north, south and central) tortilla is a staple of the diet of throughout spanish speaking america.
Fresh off the cooking stone or the (dry) frying pan, or even frozen and heated in the microwave the flour and corn tortillas are to latin america what bread is to Europe.
I make them in batches (batches? we don't need no steekin' batches)and stick them in the deep freeze for later use.


350g/12 oz plain Flour (you can also use masa corn flour but NOT corn meal)
2 teaspoons baking soda/powder
2 tablespoons lard or other white fat
250ml/8 fl oz warm water

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in fat with a fork.
Stir in warm water to form a soft dough and knead until smooth and elastic. Divide and roll into slightly larger than golf ball sized ball and let stand covered for about half an hour. Roll out very thin (2-3 millimetres) into 25 cm/10 inch rounds

Heat a frying pan(cast iron work best) to medium heat and cook until the dough starts to puff (about a minute)turn over and cook another 45 seconds. A few brown spots are good, and perfect roundness is for the pedantic and obsessive.

if you want to freeze them, put waxed paper between the tortillas and stack a dozen or more flat in a large ziplock freezer bag.

for a quick snack: put a tortilla in the frying pan on medium heat, sprinkle with grated cheese (cheddar or montrey jack is best) and a large spoonful of salsa, fold over and let the cheese melt. Serve with beer.
Use them to make rolled sandwiches with almost anything, or wrap around strips of marinated beef, pork or chicken and gilled onions and peppers for a fajita (Fah-hee-ta for you gringos)

What this home fries omlette has to do with tortillas is beyond me.