Why are these tortillas green?

Image by Hagens_world via Flickr

I had lunch with a friend yesterday at La Batalla, a small, colorful Mexican restaurant with groceries in Bergenfield. Non-meat offerings were limited, but I enjoyed two soft tacos with small shrimp, served with refried beans and yellow rice.

After we paid, I noticed stacks of tortillas, including green ones I had never seen before (Mi Pueblito brand from Passaic city, where thousands of Mexicans live). A customer and the woman who worked there didn't know why they were green. My friend looked at the label and said "green corn." Was that a statement or a question, because when I got home I saw only "corn flour" listed. (Photo: Produce store in Mexico.)

I wanted to use the tortillas for dinner last night, so I heated three of them on my stove-top griddle, topped them with sliced provolone cheese and stacked them on a plate. I made three sunny-side-up eggs in extra-virgin olive oil with salt and coarse Aleppo red pepper and put them over the tortillas and melted cheese, which were delicious soaked in the broken yolks.


I had mixed vegetables on the side and drank pinot grigio from Italy.


La Batalla, 83 N. Washington Ave., Bergenfield; 
201-385-0303. Credit cards accepted. Web site:
La Batalla