A Historic Take On Masa

 Mexican cooking would be nothing without masa, This ground corn meals yields everything from tortillas to tacos.it is one of the cooking traditions that migrated to the US and became a staple here. However it's not the same as the original until now.

Chef and host of the TV show Mi Cocina Rick AMartinez wrote this interesting piece on Mexican corn in today's New York Times Food section. For decades Americans have been eating tortillas and tacos made with processed corn loaded with preservatives. Even though we're used to the taste the flavor is very often musty and sour or bland. However a new generation of Mexican  American chefs are going back to using heirloom qualities of Mexican corn.Chefs are infusing traditional flavor into their tortilla along with tiocoyos, a street food made of a thick fried corn dough filled with pork cracklings and beans along with tamales and taquitos. Making true masa requires nixtamalization a three thousand year old practice of Mesoamerica.It's even been documented back to 1500 BCE.it's simply simmering dried corn in water and calcium hydroxide or cal until the kernals soften. They're then ground into a homogenous dough that holds what ever shape the cook wants. There are thin circles for tortillas , thicker ones for gorditas and plump triangles or ovals for huaraches or dumplings. Masa is also the backbone of a well loved chocolate drink chappurado. it cna also be crumbled into stews for body too.

There are many diffrent kinds of Mexican heirloom corn. Red ruby colored corn glints and grows in the Mexican state of Tiaxcala. Oaxaca give the Mexicans green corn while in the west  central state of Nayarit has fields full of corn stalks. These varieties are making their way to metro areas across the US. Tortilla and totopo - corn chip makers have the masa. They most likely nixtamalize the corn daily for their own products.Chef Martinez also gives recipes for tortilla made on comal or a tortilla maker. If you don;t have one a skillet works well too. They're  like pancakes being flipped every thirty seconds. There are also recipes for gorditas de maize, fat versions of pita or naan.These are slit open warm and filled with a variety of different meats , beans and cheeses.Chef Martinez also includes a recipe for tetelas de frijos negro or black bean filled dumplings. The black bean filling is easy .it's cooking black beans and sixteen cuoso f water with avocado leaves, garlic and white onion.The dumplings are stuffed with this and sprinkled with cotilla, the crumbly fresh cheese. They're cooked in a skillet or comal.

True masa requires true Mexican corn.It can be hhad here in the States. use it to create authentic tasting tortilla, taco, goritos, huaraches and gorditos