In case you didn’t already know, La Palma Mexicatessen, the crown jewel of 24th Street with its unmistakable multi-colored midcentury logo, is San Francisco’s only remaining large-scale masa molino — and you can taste it in every huarache, sope, and tamale the place churns out. There’s something about a restaurant that sells its salsa, ceviches, and fresh masa by the pound in addition to what’s prepared to order. To me, that says “I know how good this stuff is, and how much care went into making it. I want you to take some home, too.” Time and time again, visit after visit, I can’t seem to resist doing exactly that.
Pick up a pound of La Palma’s fresh masa to take home, available fina (smooth-ground) or quebrada (coarser, best for preparations like gorditas and memelas). You can grab either style prepared plain with lard, or alternatively, with vegetable oil. And they even offer varieties mixed with chipotle chile or with nopal, for a green-tinted dough and grassier flavor.