Taste for tortillas
Fresh and hot from the oven, the tortillas practically spring off the conveyor belt at De Leon Foods. At a rate of up to 8,400 an hour, they fill the air with the subtle earthy aroma of lightly toasted corn.
Ask any of the regulars at this north Spokane establishment and they’ll quickly tell you: One bite into these warm, round pieces of flat bread and never again will you take a tortilla for granted.
No longer will they play a mere supporting role in a plateful of enchiladas or a meat-filled burrito. Those who have sunk their teeth into a corn or flour tortilla from the tortilleria at De Leon Foods profess they now have a deeper appreciation for fresh, authentic Mexican food.
“We use only quality ingredients so you can taste the difference,” said Sergio De Leon, owner of the business that includes a deli, bakery, grocery store and the only tortilla factory in town. “We also don’t take shortcuts because we want to make the best tortillas. Ours are made right here in Spokane so they’re always fresh.”
The tortilleria consists essentially of a large, bustling machine that flattens balls of masa or dough, cuts them into perfect circles, then bakes and cools them through a series of conveyor belts. The factory rolled out its first tortillas last September, just three months after De Leon first opened the store.
As word got out about the tasty tortillas – along with the handmade tamales, the Jarritos soda pop and other hard-to-find Hispanic favorites at the deli and grocery – De Leon Foods suddenly became a mecca for both Latinos and others seeking authentic meals and products from Mexico as well as Central and South America.
Area residents who used to travel to Seattle or the Tri-Cities to buy ingredients for their favorite dishes were grateful to finally have a place where they could buy fresh cactus, chorizo sausage, cojito cheese, carne asada and rare spices such as chile de arbol. Some people come from as far as Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to shop at the grocery and buy packages of tortillas. The 10,000-square-foot store also carries tuna, mayonnaise, milk and other products normally available at most Spokane supermarkets to provide people with one-stop-shopping.
“We want to be here for everybody, not just for the Latino community,” said De Leon, who’s 37 (and no relation to this reporter).
In many ways, opening the tortilla factory and store has been a labor of love for De Leon and his wife, Mayra De Leon. Owning a small business is never easy, they acknowledged; but they also felt called to respond to a need – to provide a place for both Latinos and the broader community to come together, share a meal and learn about each other.
“We just wanted to give a part of our culture to the community,” said Sergio De Leon. “We also wanted a place to bring everyone together.”
A native of Tamaulipas, Mexico, Sergio De Leon was 7 years old when his entire family moved to the United States. He grew up working in the fields, moving from state to state to pick asparagus, berries, apples and other fruits and crops so that the family could put food on the table.
“We had no childhood memories of vacations,” said Sergio De Leon, recalling how he and his five siblings sometimes worked from sunrise to sunset. “My parents pulled us out of school early so that we could work and earn money.”
When he was 18, his family settled down in Portland. Sergio De Leon studied criminal justice for a few years at a college in Arizona, but ended up working in the food and freight industry. About 12 years ago, he moved to Spokane and founded Northwest Freight Handlers Inc., a business that unloads goods from trucks and cargo containers for other companies. Shortly after, Sergio De Leon met his future wife, who is a native of a small town in the province of Zacatecas, Mexico. Like her husband, Mayra De Leon also came from humble roots, raised in a family that worked in the fields and managed a small neighborhood grocery store.
“Our parents showed us the value of hard work,” said Sergio De Leon. “My mom and dad taught me that if you want something in life, you have to do your best.”
Their efforts in recent years have paid off: Not only did they realize their dream of opening a grocery store and tortilla factory, their company, Northwest Freight Handlers, now employs 55 workers and was recently recognized as one of the fastest growing minority-owned businesses in Washington state.
While they’re proud and excited about their freight business, the couple remains focused on the everyday affairs at the grocery and deli, including the enormous task of baking and packaging tens of thousands of tortillas a day.
Although the ingredients to make the tortillas are listed on the packages, the actually recipe for the dough remains a family secret, said Sergio De Leon.
The instructions were passed down to him from his mother, who learned how to cook from her parents. “She did it all by feel,” said Sergio De Leon, describing how there was no need for the family to write down the recipe.
In the coming months, the De Leon family plans to use locally produced flour from Shepherd’s Grain to make the tortillas. “We want to give back to the environment and to local farmers,” said Sergio De Leon. “I grew up working in the fields so I know how much our local farmers need the support.”
The corn tortillas are sold in packages with the De Leon Foods logo – a red, yellow and black drawing of their 4-year-old son, Anthony, wearing a cowboy hat.
On most days, shelves that start out full of fresh, warm tortillas are often empty by the time the grocery closes late in the evening. At lunch time, the deli counter is always packed as dozens of people line up for orders of carne asada, chili rellenos and other Mexican delicacies served with beans, rice and of course, tortillas.
“When I first ate lunch here, I thought it was so good, I came back for dinner,” said Kari Lynn of Spokane, who recently relished a tortilla dish topped with De Leon’s own pico de gallo. “Then I came back again the next day.”
Some of De Leon’s regular customers also include Latinos who work as servers at other Mexican restaurants. They enjoy the food, he said, as well as the atmosphere – they like to be surrounded by people speaking Spanish, by the colorful piñatas, by foods and products that come from their native country.
“It’s been humbling,” said Sergio De Leon, reflecting on the gratitude that many have expressed to his family for opening the store and deli. “I’m glad they feel at home here.”