Munching on pulled pork tacos or saucy chilaquiles, you’d be forgiven for thinking tortillas aren’t the healthiest food in the kitchen. Lush toppings aside, when it comes to nixtamal tortillas, quite the opposite is true.
Nixta-what now?
Nixtamal is an Aztec word describing corn that’s been partially cooked and soaked with calcium hydroxide, or slaked lime. It might sound like an odd culinary process, but it’s one the Meso-Americans have been employing for thousands of years. After soaking, the kernels are washed then ground between two volcanic stones, creating a soft dough called masa. It’s unknown whether the Aztecs and Mayans realised it at the time, but nixtamalisation not only enhances the flavour of corn, it dramatically improves its .
Let’s get corny
Home to 60-odd native varieties of corn, it’s little wonder Mexico is a big producer of masa and associated foods – from tacos and tamales to thick, yet tiny tortillas known as sopes and the delightfully thick chocolate drink atole.
Interestingly, wheat-based tortillas are only found in the North of Mexico. A relatively new creation, compared with the ancient nixtamal tortillas, the wheat-based bread were a product of European colonisation and the availability of low-cost flour.
But as the owner and CEO of Mexico City Foods Diana Garcia explains, the wheat-based tortilla’s presence in ‘Tex-Mex’ influenced its global outreach.
“Mexico is very diverse and the food is very diverse as well,” she points out. “In the north part of Mexico, they use the wheat tortilla, and that’s why Tex-Mex food is often based in that tortilla instead of the one the rest of Mexico eats.”
Upon moving to Australia nine years ago, she was shocked at the lack of nixtamal products.
“When I first came to Australia, one of the things I really missed was the authentic Mexican food,” she says. “And because the tortillas are the base of all our meals, that was the thing that hit me the most.”
“There were no corn tortillas in the supermarket. They were full of preservatives and the taste was really bad.”
Daily bread
“In Mexico, you can eat tortillas with everything,” says Diana, who fondly remembers queuing up at tortellerias in Mexico City each morning for freshly made nixtamal bread.
“We have breakfast with tortillas, we have lunch and dinner with tortillas. We also use it as a snack with cheese or beans, and eat it by itself – warm with a little bit of salt.”
Aptly, Diana now runs , a Sydney-based company that’s been making nixtamal tortillas, under the gaze of a Mexican than Spanish owner, since 1978.
“I wanted to make something for myself and give something to the Australian people,” she explains of taking over the business. “[To share] that this is the real Mexican tortilla, and this is how you eat it.”
“It’s also important for me that my kids know they came from Mexico, and that they don’t miss out on the same experiences I had growing up.”
There's two sides to every tortilla
"Being in Mexico this is just something you know - there are 2 sides to a tortilla," says Garcia. One side has the skin, the other side is thinner and to make your taco the right way you put the filling on the thinner side. That oven-baked flipping process gives the tortilla that skin.
Tacos with a twist
Sydney-based chef Pablo Galindo Vargas also heralds from Mexico City and shares a similar adoration for nixtamal tortillas.
At his brand-new Bondi restaurant – open a mere six weeks – the ex-Los Vida chef serves only corn-based tortillas, sourced from Diana at Foods and Melbourne-based maker .
“We’re a small taqueria, and the main thing we’re doing is tacos, so it’s very important to have a good tortilla,” he says. “We need the base to be authentic and corn tortillas give us that.”
“The process [of nixtamal] is very ancient, and a lot of people are not using it anymore, so it’s really important to keep eating it because otherwise, it could disappear.
While the taco fillings cater to every taste – from the relatively traditional lamb with adobo sauce to a vegan cauliflower and pickle number – Pablo’s use of nixtamal tortillas are bound to strike a chord with the health-conscious Bondi crowd.
And if his Instagramming diners have anything to do with it, the legacy of the Aztecs will live on for a thousand more years to come.
Have we got your attention and your tastebuds? airs every weeknight at 6pm on SBS followed by an encore screening at 9.30pm on SBS Food Network. Episodes will be available after broadcast via . Join the conversation #TheChefsLine on Instagram , Facebook and Twitter . Check out for episode guides, cuisine lowdowns, recipes and more!
