Tom Turner/Staff File Tamales wait to be cooked after being rolled at the Tyler Tortilla Factory in 2010.

MAKER: Tyler Tortilla Factory

 

BACKGROUND: Consuelo Correa started the business on Bonner Avenue in 1986. A desire to provide products to Tyler’s growing Hispanic community motivated the business’ start, according to earlier newspaper reports.

“In those days, there weren’t any Mexican products available in Tyler,” she said in an earlier interview. “We had to go to Dallas for tortillas and peppers, sometimes twice a month.”

The Correa family lived in McAllen before moving to Tyler in 1964.

Her husband, Guadalupe Correa, now deceased, began delivering her homemade tortillas and sweet bread to people’s homes. The inspiration for the Tyler Tortilla Factory began in 1979 when Mrs. Correa decided it was becoming too overwhelming for her husband to continue delivering merchandise door-to-door, according to www.tylertortillafactory.com. As the route began expanding, Mrs. Correa convinced him to open their business in 1986. Three generations of family members work there.

 

PRODUCT: Handmade corn and flour tortillas, several kinds of tamales and homemade chips and salsas are offered at Tyler Tortilla Factory.

Mrs. Correa’s first oven sits near the kitchen’s center and offers a reminder of how far the business has come. It baked one tortilla at a time and is less than half the size of the current oven, which handles 2,500 an hour.

Mrs. Correa’s famous tamales come from a modified recipe she brought from Zacatecas, Mexico, where she grew up. Pork tamales are her biggest seller, but the long list of specialty tamales include spicy pork or beef, pork with salsa verde, spinach and cheese, and cheese with peppers.

 

CONTACT: At 513 N. Border, the business can be reached at 903-595-0873 or www.tylertortillafactory.com.