Have we found the Holy Grail? In this case the golden cup in question is non-Latino supermarket tortillas that don't suck.
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Marcela Valladolid is a Food Network personality and proud sandieguense and tijuanense whose show, Mexican Made Easy, is one of the few remaining on that benighted channel that actually features cooking instruction. I knew she had a tequila label, Hacienda de la Flor, but I didn't know she'd lent her name to a line of tortillas.
Marcela's tortillas look like every other supermarket tortilla; same striations on the reverse side, same color, same size, same unvarying roundness. The ingredients list is, predictably, full of preservatives–got to keep them shelf-stable, after all. (A week later on my counter they're the same as ever.)
That's where the similarities end, though; these actually taste like Mexican tortillas, they puff correctly when you heat them on the burner (a feat which all that GRUMA crap has yet to be able to repeat), and they're not rubbery the way others are. They hold together beautifully even under the wettest, sloppiest fillings, and they make outstanding quesadillas and mulitas. I was really surprised.
They're not as good as fresh tortillas, but no supermarket tortilla ever could be. If you chose poorly when deciding where to live and you don't have a tortillería within striking distance of your house, this is your best bet.
Grade: A-.
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