No trip to your favorite Mexican restaurant would be complete without having a bowl of tortilla chips being placed on the table. For us, we judge the restaurant on the basis of its salsa – if they ‘phone in’ the salsa and the tortilla chips taste like they’ve been through the oil one too many times, we know what to expect from the rest of the meal. On the other hand, if we get fantastic chips and salsa, we’re willing to overlook any less than perfect service that we receive.
The tortilla chip was created by accident, as a result of the misshapen tortillas that Rebecca Webb Carranza and her husband created at their Mexican deli in southwest Los Angeles. These got cut into triangles, deep fried, and sold as snacks. Their popularity took off from there, and now it’s served at nearly every Mexican restaurant across the US.
As a customer of many Mexican restaurants, I can tell you that there’s a big difference between freshly made tortilla chips and the ones which restaurants purchase by the bagful from a supplier. Some restaurants even try to hide the fact that they don’t make their own by warming up the chips before putting them on the table. This is a shame; for a restaurant with a commercial deep fryer tortilla chips are easy to create.
Most of the recipes for tortilla chips call for pre-made tortillas, though if you choose you can create both the chips and the tortillas. That way, you have ultimate control over the ingredients which are used in your nacho masterpiece. To make them is simplicity. Chop the torillas like a pie and deep fry them until they’re brown and crispy.
For those who are determined to make their own tortillas, it’s a simple mixture of flour and water. Take your balls and push them through a Matfer Imperia Manual Pasta Machine – it will take your dough balls and smash them out flat for you. Then, once you’re done, drop them into the deep fryer and you’re all set.
Once you have the tortillas, the chips can be made in any size that you prefer to fit your restaurant’s tastes. Want to see something akin to Chinese restaurants and have strips? That can be done. How about tiny circles? That too. Tortilla chips, regardless of the shape, taste wonderful.
