Tradition, tortillas and ancient techniques: La Tortilleria showcases the diversity of Mexican cuisine

Surrounded by factories down in the industrial end of Kensington, La Tortilleria’s casa azul (blue house) is a splash of colour in a sea of poured concrete.

When Gerardo Lopez moved from Mexico City to Melbourne in 2009 he was disappointed by the lack of traditional Mexican food available in Australia.

So, in 2013, he teamed up with his Australian friend Diana Hull to do something about it. They acquired an old house on Stubbs St, painted it bright blue and converted it into a pioneering Mexican restaurant and tortilla maker.

At the heart of the business are traditionally made nixtamalised corn tortillas.

Nixtamalisation is a method of preparing corn used in Central American cooking for thousands of years. The corn is soaked in a low pH solution before it is made into dough.

This process not only improves the flavour and texture of the tortillas but increases their nutritional value. Since the 1950s other more easily industrialised techniques have displaced traditional tortilla making in some parts of Mexico.

The tradition of handmade nixtamalised tortillas lives on in Mexico’s villages and home kitchens and it is this tradition that Mr Lopez and Ms Hull set out to bring to Australia.

La Tortilleria now supplies its nixtamalised tortillas to restaurants and grocery stores across south-eastern Australia.

La Tortilleria’s website likens the difference in taste to the difference between instant coffee and that made with freshly-ground coffee beans.

We wanted to bring something from home to Australia, and to do it properly, restaurant manager Adrian De La Vega said. 

He has been at La Tortilleria for two years and is passionate about the restaurant showcasing Mexico’s culinary diversity.

When La Tortilleria first opened in 2013 most Mexican restaurants in Melbourne served Tex-Mex style fast food. Though La Tortilleria was not the first traditional Mexican food venue in Melbourne, it was at the vanguard of a significant improvement in the quality of Mexican food available in the city.

Mr De La Vega attributes this to Australians becoming more open to new foods and new flavours over the past decade. He also acknowledges that social media has played a big role in helping to spread the word.

La Tortilleria features dishes originating from different regions across Mexico. This includes Jalisco’s famous birria tacos, ceviche from the coastal provinces, and Mexico City classics like tacos el pastor – made from shaved pork roasted on a spit, a technique inspired by the Middle Eastern shawarma brought to Mexico City by Lebanese migrants.

Another menu highlight is Mr Lopez's grandmother's flan. This rich, custardy cake coated in caramel sauce is not what most Australians would expect from a Mexican restaurant.

The restaurant also has a wide selection of Mexican drinks, including cocktails and sweet, colourful non-alcoholic drinks called Aguas Frescas. The drinks menu also has a good selection of Mexico’s national spirits, tequila and its smokier cousin mezcal.

Mr De La Vega is particularly excited about the restaurant’s new Juegos de Maíz menu that is served on weekends. This menu includes several dishes that diners are unlikely to find at other Mexican restaurants in Melbourne.

These include Sope De Recado Negro, a distinctively flavoured dish from a Mayan cultural area of the Yucatan peninsula, as well as lobster tacos from the north-western province of Baja California.

Mr De La Vega hopes to show local diners that Mexican seafood can be more than battered fish tacos.

“Mexican food is so big, we have not even begun to reach five per cent of what there is,” he said.

The core team at La Tortilleria has been working together for years, something that Mr De La Vega thinks is a key part of the restaurant’s success.

“Everyone here is so proud,” he said. “Everyone has an input, and that is important.” •