[pete]

Flour tortillas have their place, but, in general, I prefer corn tortillas. They bring so much more flavor to whatever you are eating. But then again I love just about anything made with masa, including biscuits. Just substitute about a quarter of your flour with masa.

 

[pete]

Masa Biscuits!

And now that I am thinking about them, I think I'm going to have to make Masa Biscuits with Chorizo Sausage Gravy, this weekend!!!!!

 

[pete]

Be careful making masa biscuits. ... Corn-based hockey pucks.

I'm not saying don't do it. ... I'm just saying be careful.

I've done it many times before. The key is using just enough masa to give some flavor. I have had good experience substituting 1/4-1/3 of the flour with masa. I also tend to do this with recipes that contain baking powder or baking soda to help with the leavening.

 

[pete]

Maybe I should have another go at arepas ....

mjb.

I prefer pupusas to arepas, but I wouldn't turn down either of them.

 

[pete]

Actually, the flour (or harina) used in tortilla and a number of other "corn" based doughs is not just cornflour. That would imply that it is just dried corn, ground to a flour. The flour in tortilla and many other, but not all, corn doughs used in Latin American cuisines is masa harina. For this, the corn is first put through a process called nixtamalization. The corn is cooked with lime (chemical lime not the fruit), or other alkaline solution (sometimes wood ash). The husk is removed from the kernel then it is dried before being ground. It actually makes the corn more nutritious, but in the process changes the flavor significantly, so they are not, technically the same, and won't give you the same end product.

 

[pete]

Sorry, but I'm going to confuse this discussion even more. A lot depends on which Latin American country you are in. Some countries use the nixtamalized corn to make their flour, often called masa harina, while other countries use a soaked (and cooked?) corn for their corn flour, but this corn does not go through the nixtamalization process. In both processes the corn is soaked (and cooked?) but for masa an alkaline is added to the water and for the other it is not. This creates a flour with 2 very distinct flavors. If you were to taste the harina de maiz that is used for Arepas, it tastes very different from the masa harina that is used to make tortillas, tamales, etc. in Mexico or Pupusas in other countries.