Flour or corn?
It’s one of the most important decisions that the millions of us who live and die by L.A.’s Taco Life make every day.
It is a question that is equal parts privilege and sweet daily torment as we navigate our tortilla-and-salsa-filled lives, whether we’re eating breakfast at home or out in the street seeking late-night salvation.
In any other city in the U.S., asking “flour or corn?” is usually a simple either/or question, with an obvious right answer. Depending on what you’re eating.
In our city of masa, where the average Angeleno body is at least 1/3 tortilla and both options are executed at such an absurdly high level of quality, your quandary is simply the beautiful burden of living in what is undeniably the tortilla capital of the United States.
Los Angeles doesn’t just have good tortillas—it has an embarrassment of riches. The city’s massive and incredibly diverse Mexican and Mexican-American population has created a landscape where regional traditions from Oaxaca, Michoacán, Guerrero, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Jalisco all flourish side by side, often evolving into something new that’s distinctly of Los Ángeles.