Been making flour tortillas with the press. Fresh tortillas are amazing. Mine came with a bunch of wax papers to put between the press, but I discovered they did more harm then good. After several attempts I settled on a yeast based flour tortilla recipe which I spice up with mild chili powder. Press to shape and then roll it out to size. 60 second later in a piping hot pan and you have a tortilla. Those wax papers come in handy to separate them in the freezer.
My press came pre seasoned, but I think it can do with a few more layers. What are your tips for making tortillas?
I live in belgium.
4 shitty food things about it:
almost no good Mexican food except for brussels. Almost nowhere seems tamales, much less good ones. Very difficult to find corn husks short of stealing them from farms
absolutely no Masa to be found anywhere except specialty, expensive Mexican online shops that come from who knows where
it is difficult to find good milk that isn't ultra high temp pasturized
nearly impossible to find decent salsa or even the peppers to make it without travelling to go to a specialty shop in brussels
Hard life of a Mexican food lover in Belgium ๐
Banana leaves will work fine if they're more accessible. It's a common substitute in other countries. You might even be able to use paper, really. It just has to keep everything contained during cooking/storage.
Masa is basically just nixtamalized cornmeal/cornflour mixed with water. You can make nixtamalized corn yourself if you're willing to go through the effort. If you don't, unnixtmalized cornflour works. It's not bad, just different.
Where does milk come into tamales?! Unless you're doing sweet tamales or trying to make cheese, tamales don't involve milk.
Any chili will work, even thai. Add some capsicum if you want more of that pepper sweetness but all you can find for heat are small thais. Alternatively, use a recipe intended for chiltepins or pequin chilis. Mexico has hundreds of different chilis and all of them are used to make salsa. Just make sure to use white onion, not sweet or yellow. Throw everything in an oven till it's blackened, add cilantro/coriander, blend, season, cool, eat.
Who cares where the milk goes? I fully agree that the milk in Belgium that you can get in the supermarkets is flat out disgusting. The boiling to ultra high temperature completely kills the flavor.
My sister-in-law is in Germany and has the same Mexican food issues. Making masa is dead simple. Boil 500 grams dent corn (popcorn works too) in four liters of water with about 10g calcium hydroxide for about an hour, then let sit at room temperature for 12ish hours. Rinse the kernels in the sink, rubbing off most of the loose skins. Grind in a food processor or food mill, add a little water if needed to reach the right consistency. The recipe scales, and be sure to use a stainless steel pan - CaOH degrades aluminium.