Taco Maria’s Carlos Salgado makes authentic tortillas with Mexican blue maize

Chef Carlos Salgado scoops cooked organic blue maze corn into a wet mill to grind for the tortillas at Taco Maria.

Taco Maria produces 1,200 pounds of masa each week.

A worker prepares balls of masa for pressing by hand to order at Taco Maria.

Tortillas are pressed by hand to order and cooked on a grill at Taco Maria.

The corn in Taco Maria’s tortillas is a blue conico variety grown in the highlands near Atlacomulco in the state of Mexico.

The blue corn tortillas at Taco Maria are one reason why the Costa Mesa restaurant is No. 2 on Jonathan Gold’s 2015 list of 101 best restaurants.

Taco Maria’s atole, a creamy drink made with blue corn masa and charred strawberry jam, is served with a grilled bacon taco made with black beans, cactus, and raw sugar glaze, garnished with piloncillo cilantro.

Chicken mole taco made with almonds, queso fresco and dates, garnished with criollo cilantro at Taco Maria.

A chicken mole taco made with almonds, queso fresco and dates is garnished with criollo cilantro at Taco Maria.