Getting to know masa

A staple of Mexican cuisine, masa – the dough made from nixtamalized corn that has been ground to a coarse flour – is getting renewed interest from chefs, according to Food and Wine contributing editor Khushbu Shah. Masa’s importance to Mexican food cannot be overestimated. Corn is critical to the national identity, dating back at least to the Mayans, who believed that people were created directly from corn.

The nixtamalization process, where corn kernels are steeped in an alkaline solution to soften them, also contributes greatly to the food’s nutritional value. Without this step, “it would be impossible to make tortillas or any other food made with masa. The dry maize kernels, with their outer hull intact, would just be corn flour or cornmeal.”

Chefs are drawn to masa more for its flavor and versatility than for its vitamin content. Using heirloom corn varieties allows the chefs to get unique flavors and colors for tortillas, tamales, batters, and more. Some chefs are becoming really hands-on when it comes to their masa, choosing to do the nixtamalization in house. Bakers are discovering the wonders of masa as well, making unique baked goods like a twist on kouign amann.

You don’t have to grind corn and nixtamalize it yourself to use masa in your home kitchen. It’s getting easier to find in supermarkets, and there are many mail order sources available. The EYB Library contains more than 4,300 recipes with masa (767 online/ckbk recipes), including the Yellow mole with masa dumplings (Mole amarillito con chochoyotes) from Pati’s Mexican Table by Pati Jinich shown above.

Note from Jenny: One of the best books on masa is 2022’s Masa: Techniques, Recipes, and Reflections on a Timeless Staple by Jorge Gaviria who is the founder and CEO of Masienda, a growing food service business that has become the go-to purveyor of high quality, non-GMO corn from Mexico for top US chefs.