Tortillas: become a mainstream meal solution

Irving / TX. (prn) The tortilla, which has been a staple in Mexican homes for thousands of years, has become a contemporary favourite in mainstream households in recent years. With sales estimated to be 950,4 million USD in 2008, it is the second most popular bread type in the United States – beating out whole wheat bread, bagels and rolls and only giving way to classic white bread. Experts attribute some of the growth to the nation´s rapidly expanding Hispanic population while others suggest that consumers are choosing tortillas for their versatility; using it for much more than just the usual Mexican fillings and creating a wide variety of delicious recipes – Mission Foods, one of the largest tortilla manufacturers in the United States, says in a press release. The company, headquartered in Irving (Texas, U.S.) is a subsidiary of the Mexican Gruma S.A.B. de C.V., one of the world´s leading tortilla and corn flour producers. The Monterrey-based group has operations in Mexico, the United States, Central and South America, Europe and Asia.

According to a Mayan legend, tortillas were invented by a peasant for his hungry king in ancient times. The first tortillas, which date approximately 10’000 years before Christ, were made of native corn with dried kernel. Nasa has used flour tortillas on Space shuttle missions since the 1980s. They use tortillas in the place of bread because of the easy clean-up and because the bread crumbs can cause a lot of trouble in space.