Masters of Masa: CaCao Mexicatessen’s killer tortillas

Driving east down Eagle Rock’s mini-Restaurant Row on Colorado Boulevard, you’d almost never make it to CaCao Mexicatessen.  The choices are many: Dave’s Chillin’-n-Grillin’s quality subs, The Oinkster’s pastrami and burgers, Cafe Beaujolais’s simple French, Casa Bianca’s cult pizza pie, Fatty’s can’t-believe-it’s-tofu menu, and the myriad of options in between.

At the end of this cluster of eateries lies CaCao, an inconspicuous Mexican deli housed in a small adobe building next to Trader Joe’s.  Inside, a carved sign reads “Hecho en Eagle Rock,” a motto that best sums up its gentrified rusticity.  It’s everything an Eagle Rock resident could want: sunny walls and Spanish tile, warm woods and a painting of Frida Kahlo, the occasional mariachi song for “authenticity.”  Two large deli cases illuminate platters of Mexican pastries, stacks of Oaxacan and cotija cheeses, and tubs of homemade mole, guacamole and salsa.  Rows of foodstuffs line the shelves, from hot sauce to candies to spicy chocolates, along with woven tortilla baskets and molecajetes.

The menu could be defined as cookie-cutter, the requisite carne asada and carnitas making an appearance in taco, burrito and sope form, along with quesadillas, nachos, chilaquiles, mole poblano and the like.  At first glance, this is your typical mid-priced, sit-down Mexican restaurant.  But order anything made with a corn tortilla, and CaCao’s uniqueness begins to shine.

CaCao’s handmade corn tortillas and sopes, made in-house daily, outshine just about anything that is put inside or on top of them. Detractors have criticized the middling flavors of their meats and sauces — an argument that is not without some merit — but truthfully, the carb-lover in me would eat stewed cardboard if it was wrapped in one of CaCao’s tortillas.  (For an amusing take on CaCao, check out York Blvd.’s ingenious price-to-quality graph of Mexican food in LA.)

The difference is in the freshly ground masa, the dough used to make tortillas.   Thick, starchy masa imparts a pleasant chewiness to CaCao’s tortilla, which miraculously holds up regardless of how juicy or oily the meat inside is.  Where most taquerias provide two tortillas just to keep the entire taco from disintegrating while eating, CaCao needs only one.  The chips, freshly fried from quartered tortillas, are crisped to perfection.

Quesadillas made with these tortillas highlight the beautiful relationship between cheese and grain.  Their gooey Oaxacan cheese melted between CaCao’s decorative squash blossom tortillas will have you swearing off the inferior flour-tortilla version for good.

Perhaps the best incarnation of this magical masa is the sope, a dense patty of ground maize goodness that would satisfy Centeotl himself.  Pictured here is the chorizo con papa sope, or Mexican chorizo with potatoes.  If you’re only going to try one though, get the calabacitas, topped with zucchini, corn and crumbled cotija cheese.  It’s light but hearty, enough to make you forget it’s vegetarian.

The deli part of CaCao offers their tortillas, chips and sopes for purchase.  Get there during the day for the freshest selection — you may even catch the tortilla-maker herself in action.

CaCao Mexicatessan
1576 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323.478.279