A real Mexican tortilleria, right in our city, the only one of its kind. The smells inside Tortilleria El Sol transport you to a Mexican city street corner where the overhead doors are pulled up and people whistle insults at each other, where VW bug taxis haul and sputter up the cobbled roads. Salsas and tamales are also made on the weekends, and if you are lucky, a sweet señor named Don Ambrosio Chairez will take your order. They have the soul of maiz and the ghost of the cooking oil they were made in-a modest whisper, but a faithful vehicle. Tortilleria El Sol also has chips, which have an unrivaled thickness and won’t snap mid-dip. “It is not so much a recipe, but more of a proper water to corn ratio,” he says. The business is family owned, with Daniel’s recipe for the tortillas being kind of a secret. Preservatives are loaded into pre-packaged tortillas so they will last longer, but they also sacrifice the flavor and texture. It is sort of the same rule for key lime pies. The more yellow the tortilla, the more processed it is. The tortillas themselves are white, because they are not overloaded with calcium hydroxide, which reacts with cooked corn to make a yellow tortilla. The framework of the 20-foot machine squeaks idly, and there’s an ever-present hum of the gears turning, like a small factory behind the service counter. This is the same exact model that sits inside Tortilleria El Sol’s unassuming storefront on 13th Street.
The tortillas were not packaged, but came straight off a chain-link conveyor belt. He would ask for a kilo or two, which were wrapped in the bandana, and off he went. The business is located in Milwaukee’s Crisol Corridor, and is in great company with other Milwaukee treasures.Īs a child in Mexico, Daniel was sent to the corner to pick up tortillas for the meal his family would prepare. This is something Daniel Chairez, owner of Tortilleria El Sol (3458 S. Tortillas have remained largely unchanged since 500 B.C., and although many incarnations exist, the best tortillas are always the most simple. They changed the name to tortilla over time, which in their language meant “little bread.” Corn was abundant in the Americas, and it was used to make many different things, the most well-known being tortillas, either to be eaten alone or to accompany other meals (generally slow-roasted meats).
When the Spanish landed on the shores of Veracruz in 1519, they saw the people in the villages eating tlaxcalli. This is the birth of tlaxcalli (tortillas). What is birthed is one of the most popular and often mutated vehicles for nutrition the world over. The idea is to soak cintli (Nahuatl for corn) until it softens, which is then ground in stone wells and has water added, creating masa (dough). These people are working to create a meal for themselves and the royalty that watches over them, something that can be eaten plainly, and made just as easily. The year is 500 B.C., or as close as anyone can figure it, anyway. The people of the village are hard at work under a harsh and unforgiving sun.