With a fork, mix the Masa and salt. Add the water slowly until the masa holds together and the water is absorbed evenly. The tortilla dough will be moist, but not overly sticky. Divide the dough into 12 balls (about the size of golf balls). Cover with plastic, as you don't want the dough to dry out.

To make the tortillas, take a piece of wax paper and fold it in half. Place a ball of dough in between the wax paper. Squish the ball down using the bottom of a pie plate (Pyrex is best, since you can see what's going on). When the tortillas is thin, but not too thin, you're done. Do this for all tortillas, layering them with the used wax paper sheets so they don't dry out.

Heat a cast iron skillet to _hot_. Tortillas must cook fast else they dry out. Cook each tortillas, flipping it several times and encoraging steam to form; if you're lucky or skilled the tortilla will puff up like a baloon. This should be encouraged by pressing lightly on the tortilla with the bottom of a spatula while the tortilla is cooking. The steam keeps the tortillas moist and tender. The tortilla is done when light brown patches appear on both sides. Place the baked tortillas in a towel-lined basket (or use the pie plate). Cover with another towel; this steams the tortillas. Colleen

Colleen Wirth Annals of Mathematics wirth@math. Princeton. Edu Princeton University