All-natural tortillas are remarkably difficult to find in your run-of-the-mill grocery store. The next time you’re at a Meijer, or Wal-Mart, or Kroger, or wherever it is you buy your food, pick up the best-looking tortillas you can find and flip the package over so you can read the ingredients.
Do you see anything about mono- and di-glycerides? Or hydrogenated soybean oil? Congratulations, that’s not a particularly natural product you’re holding. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to create a ready-to-use tortilla for supermarket sales without using some weird stuff.
A few months ago, I discovered that a package of whole wheat tortillas at my local food cooperative had suddenly been pulled from the shelves. After asking what happened, I was told that the producer of that product had been lying in their ingredient listings. That experience shook me up a little bit, and I have been more careful about every food purchase. (Note: If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is).
The same employee who informed me of the tortilla deception pointed me toward Alvarado St. Bakery sprouted wheat tortillas. I didn’t buy them that day, but the desire to try them out has been stuck firmly in my head.
A week ago, I finally pulled the trigger on that want. A six-pack of burrito-size tortillas from Alvarado St. Bakery will run you $3-4, and I think they are worth it.
Here are the ingredient listings:
Organic sprouted whole wheat berries, organic whole wheat flour, water, unrefined safflower oil, sea salt.
See anything provocative? I don’t. And that’s only part of what makes these awesome!
I’ve had these tortillas as part of a fajita taco night as well as a quesadilla night, and in both cases they were outstanding. Unlike other sprouted wheat tortilla brands, the texture was soft and firm (like traditional tortillas). This tortilla is exactly what I had been looking for.
