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Mayra Esquivel had prepared a special meal to celebrate her graduation from Pima Community College’s culinary arts program: stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes with garlic sauce and vegetables in a wine reduction. Her father, Salvador, had traveled to Tucson from Monterrey, México to celebrate with her. The elaborate and sophisticated dishes were already on the table when he asked a question that would change the family’s story: “And the tortillas?”
Years later, Mayra named her business “Y las Tortillas” in honor of that moment. But behind the name is a deeper story — that of a daughter who wanted to nourish her parents in a healthier way. At the time, her father was living with kidney disease, and her mother, María, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Out of that love grew a business dedicated to creating nutritious tortillas designed to support health without sacrificing flavor.
The combinations at Y Las Tortillas seem more at home in a culinary laboratory than in a traditional tortilla shop. There are tortillas made with tomato, chipotle and almonds…