Published September 1, 2005. From Cook's Illustrated.
The thickness makes all the difference for both flour and corn tortillas.
It's no surprise that the best tortillas are freshly made to order. But those of us without a local tortilleria must make do with the packaged offerings at the local supermarket. To find out which ones taste best, we rounded up every 6-inch flour tortilla we could find (usually labeled "fajita size") and six brands of corn tortillas and headed into the test kitchen to taste them.
Thin corn tortillas, either white or yellow, quickly became feather-light and crisp when oven-fried. In corn tortillas, flavor differences between brands were slight, but locally made tortillas did pack a bit more corn flavor than national brands. Our advice? Purchase the thinnest corn tortillas you can find and choose a locally made brand, if possible.
Store-bought flour tortillas were a little more differentiated. Among our brands, tasters immediately zeroed in on texture, which varied dramatically from "doughy and stale" to "thin and flaky." Most brands had a mild, pleasantly wheaty flavor, but two of the doughier brands (both made by the same company), were panned for off, sour notes. Once again, the thinner brands were the hands-down winners.
Our advice for buying both flour and corn tortillas is simple: If you can, buy local. Otherwise, get the thinnest tortillas you can find at your local market.
