I just "discovered" this group, after not having a newsfeed for a
couple of years, now with a new ISP, I can finally access Usenet
without Google!

I'm an ex-Californian who now lives in Italy, and I miss my Mexican
(and other ethnic) food! I'm a pretty good cook, so I try to make my
own. I live in a large city (Milano) so I can find a lot of the
ingredients that I need, but often I have to substitute. Mex food is
not unheard of here, but what you get in a restaurant is pretty bad,
and EXPENSIVE ($12 for 2 awful "tacos"). I can find flour tortillas
($3.50 for 8) in the supermarkets - the brand is Uncle Ben's - yes
THAT Uncle Ben !!!

I grow my own jalapeños, habañeros, tomatillos and other peppers and
make salsa and pickled peppers. See: http://www.graffi.to/peppers.html

The big problem is that there are NO corn tortillas to be had at all.
Corn chips, yes - tortillas no. So I try to make my own. I found a
Phillipino shop that sells masa harina, my dear friend sent me a cast
iron tortilla press. I found a bazillion recipes for corn tortillas on
the net - woohoo! The problem is (finally getting around to the
subject), that my tortillas just don't seem to come out right. My only
point of reference is store bought or restaurant tortillas, which in
the east bay area of San Francisco (Oakland) were all pretty good. I
have only been to Mexico once, and bought corn tortillas from a little
hole in the wall shop, which were much better (being FRESH), but
similar to the above mentioned ones. The ones I make aren't like that.

I've followed all the directions I've found, and I think that the
problem is in the cooking phase. Either they come out kind of raw, or
cooked longer, with a sort of leathery crust on the outside. Only
occasionally do they puff up. I use a dry cast iron pan - maybe it's
too hot/cold (I've tried both)?

I'd like to hear from those with *direct* experience with cooking
tortillas.

Thanks.