Crowning Burritos La Palma with the Golden Tortilla

A winner has been crowned in this year’s KCRW & Gustavo’s Great Tortilla Tournament of Champions! For the third time in the event’s history, a flour tortilla came out victorious, with Burritos La Palma taking home the Golden Tortilla trophy. Albert Bañuelos, owner of Burritos La Palma, joins judges Gustavo Arellano and Evan Kleiman to describe how his father started the tortilleria 41 years ago in Jerez. With a move to California and the availability of ingredients, the recipe has changed over the years. After experimenting with beef tallow and duck fat, Bañuelos returned to vegetable shortening which his father used, yielding the best texture and consistency. Starting as a truck to opening a brick and mortar in El Monte, which Arellano calls “the center point for the Zacatecano diaspora,” Bañuelos has expanded the business and is in the process of retailing the tortillas, using different fats and offering various sizes.