Corn vs. Flour: The Taco’s Biggest Quandary

Illustrations by Becca Saulsberry

Here in the States, Americans have become not just fond of, but bonkers for, tacos. The team members of Spoke+Blossom are certainly fanatics, and we want to know all the secrets to the best taco. Most importantly, we want to know which is better: corn or flour tortillas. The debate is bafflingly split, but before I expose the results, a disclaimer, or preface, if you will: what would ordinarily operate as a street interview of random strangers instead, thanks to the infamous COVID-19 predicament, involved yours truly texting, emailing, calling and Zooming friends, coworkers and restaurants. To be fair, I did interview restaurants I had never heard of, but they were recommended to me through my connections (so I cannot deny that I am the common denominator for all of this article’s sources). I’ll leave it up to you to quantify the bias (but how scientific can a survey about food preferences be anyways?). 

According to an Instagram poll, 20 people prefer corn tortillas while 19 prefer flour. Extraordinary, no? On one end of the spectrum, Kitty Nicholason, Spoke+Blossom’s art director, believes, “if it’s made with a flour tortilla, it’s a burrito,” and Jonndre King, my roommate and foodie, asserts, “flour is fluffy, lame shit.” On the other hand, Luispedro Blanco-Jenkins, a high school friend, emphasizes, “corn tortillas are gross and grainy unless you heat them up.” 

But, of course, our wishy-washy, two-tortilla-timin’ friends in the middle (including myself), like both! These grain-pleasing people think it depends on the filling. Who’s right?! 

It seems most restaurants, including Jibertito’s Mexican Food in Glenwood Springs and Rocky Mountain Taco food truck in Vail, use corn tortillas for tacos and flour ones for burritos. The latter fact is no shock, since corn tortillas big enough for burritos would only break and crumble, but corn for tacos needs further justification. The owner of Verde in Boulder explains that they use two, lightly crisped corn tortillas for each taco because they hold up better and are gluten-free. My Austinite friends and I have to agree that flour is too bready and filling and should only be used for breakfast tacos, or “fat kid tacos” if you ask Bobby L’Heureux, Spoke+Blossom co-owner and director of partnerships. 

In contrast, Taco Bliss, the food truck in Paonia, primarily uses flour tortillas, because “they have a mellower flavor and can show off the unique flavors [they] offer.” Not to mention they “soak up the juices,” as deliciously described by one of our editorial interns, Kaitlin Emig. Managing editor, Lexi Reich, also advocates for flour; “It’s what my mom always used! Maybe I secretly like burritos more and look at tacos as mini burritos.” 

Many prefer corn because it is perceived as more authentic, which is correct if authentic equates to old. Historians suggest corn tortillas first reached hungry mouths in 10,000 B.C.E. when corn was domesticated in Mexico, while flour tortillas are believed to have been invented by Spanish Jews exiled to New Spain (current day Mexico and Central America) during the Inquisition of the 1100s. 

If you ask me, al pastor, fish, shrimp, chicken or simple black beans with sweet potato and fixings belong in little, baby, corn pancakes, and anything involving egg, potato, sausage, bacon, Takis, tater tots or sweaty steak need a soft, flaky, speckled wrap. But, I’m just one person! Get out there, try some Colorado restaurants, stuff your own creations in tiny cakes and keep an open mind.

Originally published in the Summer 2021 issue of Spoke+Blossom.