After trekking through 96 tortillas, from Chula Vista to Sylmar, from Ojai to Coachella, we have reached our Fuerte Four finalists.
But as MacLeod famously said in Highlander; "There can be only one tortilla."
Okay, maybe he didn't say tortilla. But this Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. at Smorgasburg LA, KCRW and Gustavo's Great Tortilla Tournament will hold its finale in front of YOU. RSVP here, and don't forget: If you're a KCRW member, you can get a free sample from all four finalists.
Who are the finalists, you may want to know, and what's up with them? Glad you asked!
The blue corn tortillas at Taco María are perennial favorites and, once again, they've made it into the Fuerte Four of the Tortilla Tournament. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
CORN CATEGORY
Contestant: Pan Victoria
Presiding Judge: Evan Kleiman
For years, people have asked when was I going to include Central American tortillas in the #TortillaTournament. Mexicans, after all, shouldn't have a hegemony over them, you know? The main reason is that I could never find a brand that sells them en masse à la Kernel of Truth or Diana's, or a full-fledged Central American tortillería. As with Mexican tortillas, I wanted to go through the mainstream brands before the real work began of finding gems. I was never successful. One of the great things about Central American tortillas is that they're almost always made a orden y de mano — to order and handmade.
That presented another problem: How to pick which restaurants to try in Southern California's grand galaxy of Central American restaurants?
This year, I stopped with the excuses, and thank God I did. I picked a Salvadoran corn tortilla, a Guatemalan corn tortilla, and a Honduran flour tortilla to participate. Wouldn't you know, the latter two — Pan Victoria in Mid-City and La Troca Catracha in Koreatown — made it into the Suave 16, and Pan Victoria is in the Fuerte Four.
Color me pendejo.
In my defense, I knew Pan Victoria was going to be a contender the moment I ate it. Their Mid-City location offers traditional Guatemalan stews like pipian and hilacha from hot trays, and also makes dishes like enchiladas (what Mexicans would call a tostada) and the awesome Guatemalan hot dogs called shucos. They sell their thick, small, sumptuous corn tortillas two to an order, pre-made that day and grabbed from a container where they stay warm.
Never had a Central American-style tortilla? Now's the time. For all of Pan Victoria's good work in their first year in the #TortillaTournament, they're up against…
Contestant: Taco María
Presiding Judge: Gustavo Arellano
I received my second batch of Taco María blue corn tortillas the night that the James Beard-nominated, Michelin-starred restaurant closed after a 10-year run that upended Southern California's Mexican food scene. I kept them in as contestants for a last hurrah, to see how far they would go.
Unsurprisingly, they're back for the fifth Fuerte Four in their sixth year. That's by far, the most Fuerte Four appearances of any tortilla in #TortillaTournament history. No other tortillas have maintained the same quality of excellence as Salgado's blue beauties, which have an almost buttery taste because of the heirloom corn that Salgado nixtamalizes himself.
Salgado has no immediate plans to reopen Taco María, but he's been in action in Southern California. Last week, he was one of the participating chefs in the 2023 Heirloom Bean Encuentro, the bean festival hosted by Rancho Gordo Beans and my wife's Alta Baja Market. If you missed that, the Fuerte Four finale might be the last time you'll have a chance to taste a bit of Taco María for a while, so go!
But just because one makes it into the Fuerte Four doesn't guarantee victory. Taco María has won but once — can they be the first-ever two-time Golden Tortilla winner?
HomeState staffers serve their popular flour tortillas at the 2022 Tortilla Tournament. Photo credit: Larry Hirshowitz
FLOUR CATEGORY
Contestant: Heritage Craft BBQ & Brewery
Presiding Judge: Connie Alvarez
Danny Castillo is already the best barbecue man in California, with incredible briskets, sausages, char siu, smoked turkey and whatever chingada he feels like doing on any particular day. Being a mero mero in the meat world wasn't enough for him. He wanted to master flour tortillas, using tallow as his binding agent.
Well, he did it. Heritage is in the Fuerte Four on its first try. I predicted this the first time I tried his tortilla. Fluffy, thicker than thin but thinner than thick, and redolent of beef, it's a meal unto itself.
Castillo won't be selling tortillas to the public, but those treasures will be the base for some special food items his team will be making this Sunday for the finale. If you don't taste them this Sunday, your only other bet is to go all the way down to Oceanside, where Castillo opened his second location this year. It's the only one of his two where you can taste Heritage's tortillas (he uses Burritos La Palma tortillas at Heritage's original San Juan Capistrano spot). It's a huge building, with a full bar and special items, and it opened just before HomeState opened their O-Town spot just across the street. Speaking of rivalries…
Contestant: HomeState
Presiding Judge: Sean Vukan
The only other tortilla besides to make it into the Eso Eight every year of my #TortillaTournament has been this Tex-Mex chain, which keeps getting bigger and bigger. What started as two spots is now eight. Where the hell is an Orange County location? In the process, owner Briana Valdez and her tortilla queens have spread the gospel of breakfast tacos in breakfast burrito heaven, and given folks a glimpse of Tex-Mex tortillas — really just available in Southern California via them and Josef Centeno — at their finest: powdery, billow, chockablock with flavor due to the butter they use as a binding agent.
It's great to see that HomeState now sells their beauties to the public. Just a couple of years ago, I remember asking Valdez's sister, Andy, to sell a packet of them to my tortilla scout because, at the time, they weren't selling him any. Now, they have freshly made tortillas waiting in a cooler for anyone to take home, which you totally should. Alas, HomeState will not have a full booth this time around like in past years.