Woman’s business provides tortillas

Good things come in small packages, and that is certainly true of the flour tortillas produced by a new home-based business, Flour and Fork in Strasburg.

Veasna Gingerich, originally from Cambodia, began the business this spring. Tortillas are something she learned to make at a young age from a woman she considers her Christian mother, who is half Mexican.

“She was a missionary in Cambodia, so that’s how I met her. She kind of took me in, and I learned from her,” Gingerich said.

Tortillas are not related to the Cambodian culture, but they are something Gingerich has embraced in her new business.

“I love working with the dough and just making things and cooking. And I just thought, ‘Why not try something I could do from home?’” Gingerich said.

The business gives her something more to do and provides a bit of extra cash. Gingerich saw a need for homemade flour tortillas to be available in the community.

Making tortillas is a time-consuming process.

“I mix the dough by hand. It’s a lot to do with how the dough feels,” Gingerich said.

She uses the same recipe she learned to make in Cambodia. Flour and Fork is her first business venture.

Gingerich shapes the dough into balls and presses the dough with an electric press her Christian mom bought for her from Mexico. The press heats the dough slightly, which allows the tortillas to flatten into shape more easily. Then she cooks them in a cast iron skillet on her stove.

The tortillas are sold at Yoder’s Hometown Market in Dover and Trail Side Deli in Millersburg.

Flour and Fork tortillas can be used in multiple ways to make a variety of dishes including enchiladas, burritos and roll-ups, and they make wonderful snacks. One customer even used them for smash burgers. Some customers have said Flour and Fork tortillas are the best tortillas they’ve ever tasted.

Gingerich and her husband Jonathan met in Cambodia when he and his family were working as missionaries there.

“It was just two months before (Jonathon’s family) had to come home for good, and then he traveled back a couple times just to visit,” Veasna Gingerich said. “We were doing a long-distance relationship for a couple years until we got engaged.”

The couple got married in 2017. They have three children: Abby, 7; Nick, 6; and Claire, 2.

Gingerich hopes to grow her business to add a few more stores to sell her tortillas. She also wants to contribute to her family.

“My goal is to have a little bit of extra (money) that I can either stick in for the kids’ school stuff or stash some for Cambodia trips,” Gingerich said. “It’s just something I wanted to do, and then hopefully, if it’s busy enough, it will give me something to do while the kids are at school.”

The Gingerichs last visited Cambodia in winter 2024, but prior to that, it had been five or six years since they were able to visit.

“That was way too long. I’d love to be able to go visit more often. So that’s kind of my side motivation,” Gingerich said.

Between visits the family stays in contact through video calls.

“I’m so very thankful for that, but still, it’s not the same,” Gingerich said.

In addition to her family, Gingerich also misses the culture of Cambodia, which she described as a more “open door.” People there socialize and interact daily.

The closest town to Gingerich’s Cambodia home is Siem Reap, which is the second largest city in the country. The Angkor Wat temple, a popular tourist spot, is nearby. The area where she lived was surrounded by rice fields and lots of trees and other vegetation.

Gingerich may not stop at a tortilla business.

“My bigger dream in the future is to have a restaurant. I love feeding people and making food,” Gingerich said.