Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001 | 8:18 a.m.
Editors note: This is another in an occasional series on food companies involved in the Made In Nevada program.
If youve ever crunched a hot tortilla corn chip or opened a steamy foil package of corn tortillas, there is a good chance that the tortilla was manufactured by a man named Jose Gutierrez.
Gutierrez is the owner of a local company, Tortillas Inc. (1703 Stocker St. in North Las Vegas), but he could also be called a typical American success story. In 1979 he arrived in the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico, to live with a brother in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Five years later he lost his job, and while on a weekend visit to Las Vegas he was recruited for a job here by a friend.
So he moved his family to Las Vegas lock, stock and barrel, and later was hired by the Dunes to be a waiter at the grand Sultans Table.
At the same time the entrepreneurial Gutierrez realized that he wanted something more for his wife and four children, so he began a small, commercial tortilla production. His business grew steadily, and now there are almost 40 employees producing more than 100,000 corn tortillas a day.
The process of making tortillas is fascinating, as demonstrated by a quick tour through the facility. Gutierrez buys his corn in kernel form in giant bags from Texas. The corn is placed in a nixtamal -- a vat that can hold up to 1,000 pounds of corn.
Gutierrez also makes thick, crunchy taco shells out of special flour that he buys in bulk for a few hotels and restaurants, at their request.
The corn then cooks for between six and eight hours in water than has been treated with powdered lime, a leaching agent that helps peel the hull (aril), the outer skin on a corn kernel, and allows more water to be absorbed. Then the corn is placed in a 30-horsepower grinder, where the kernels are rinsed, drained and ground by volcanic stones, exactly the same process done by the Aztecs themselves, albeit manually.
The result is a corn dough called masa, which doesn't taste any better or worse than, say, uncooked pasta dough. The masa is placed in a mixer so it will become smooth and consistent, and then fed into rotating heads that shape it into round, flat crepe-like shapes.
Finally the shapes roll down a conveyor belt into a comal, or tortilla oven, which is 18 feet in length. In fact, the soon-to-be tortillas make three tours in the oven, on a three-level, S-shaped belt. The entire trip takes about 18 seconds, at 360 degrees.
In Gutierrez' production line the process is completely controlled by computer.
Once the tortillas have been cooked, they pass through a cooler and then are further processed for packaging. The production line starts at around 8 a.m. and is all over by around 10.
Just as with fresh pasta, there is no good substitute for a nice, fresh tortilla. A fresh tortilla has a clean taste, a springy texture and is the perfect foil for dozens of delicious foods.
Hotel restaurants such as Margarita's at the Frontier and Garduno's in the Fiesta are just two local places that buy these tortillas in boxes, eight packs containing 10 dozen each. They then do the cutting and deep frying on the premises, so that your basket of fresh, hot chips will be as fresh as possible.
Gutierrez also manufactures a few variations on this tortilla theme. There are, for instance, thicker La Mazorca brand tortillas, and precut chips that come in different colors, such as red, green, blue, yellow and white. Because many of his clients want these specific colors and shapes, Gutierrez refers to his operation as a gourmet tortilla production. We aren't arguing.
There are dozens of ways to use these tortillas at home. One is to take an oil with a high flashpoint, such as peanut oil, (or dare we say it, Mexico's more traditional frying oil -- lard) and make your own chips at home. Since you get a 60-ounce bag of these tortillas for somewhere in the vicinity of $1.69, it is a fun and inexpensive idea.
The tortillas are not available in local supermarket chains, because the owner feels that there is "too much wheeling and dealing for space on the shelves." You may, however, find them in many local mom-and-pop grocery stores, or in a variety of convenience stores.
The tortillas are sold at Circle K in Green Valley, for example, and at many Latino grocery stores such as La Bonita at 2405 E. Ogden Ave.
One other possibility is to visit the facility itself, because Gutierrez has put in a full-fledged Latino market next door to the tortilla factory.
First of all, you'll save 20 cents or more on the 60-ounce package of tortillas, which contain, for the record, around 30 pieces. And secondly, there are a wonderful variety of Mexican groceries, including some killer salsas.
This market, called Los Arcos, sells Jumex juices from Mexico, Penafiel sodas, dried chili, Mexican chocolate and many other specialty products. But perhaps the most fascinating part of the market is in the back, where a wide selection of Mexican herbs are sold, many of which are for medicinal purposes.
Flor de tila, or linden flower, is used by Mexicans to calm the nerves, while rose petals are taken to improve circulation, and chapparal herb, which looks a little like oregano, used to soothe the digestive system.
Most of us would prefer a basket of chips and salsa, though.
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