Perhaps the most egregious loss of indigenous knowledge has to do with corn. Corn is an excellent drought resistant crop that dominants american agriculture. Most of the corn produced in the US is used for sweeteners such as the corn syrup in soda, ethanol for fuel, and livestock feed. While heavily subsidized - the US government spends almost $10 billion on corn - we are reaping a fraction of what this wonderful plant has to offer.
In pre-Columbian America, most cultures that cultivated corn knew to soak it in an alkaline solution before cooking and consuming it. We know this process today as nixtamalization. This pre-digestion of corn radically increases bioavailability of nutrients to consumers. Many of us have experienced what happens to untreated corn in our digestive system… not a lot. This was likely the case for some groups in Central America; however, over many thousands of years, these groups died off as they were unable to outcompete groups that did engage in this cultural practice.
This alkaline solution either came from wood ash or mineralized lime. The difference in pH between someone's stomach and this alkaline solution is vast. Lime in its purest state – calcium hydroxide – has a pH of 12.4. This is noteworthy, as the human stomach is on the opposite ned of the pH spectrum with a pH of 1.5-5 – depending on how recently the stomach has been fed. Corn, in the United States today, is predominantly fed to cows. Their stomach pH is not high enough to unlock all the nutritional value of corn either, and this leads to all kinds of problems we will have to discuss in another post.
This alkali treatment unlocks the full nutritional potential of corn, which in a Central American landscape void of livestock to be herded and eaten was wildly important for indigenous peoples. This process allowed more protein, B vitamins, and other micronutrients to become available for absorption by humans, as well as reducing harmful mycotoxins.
When corn was introduced to European colonists, this cultural practice was abandoned. Corn was eaten as is (sometimes) with deleterious consequences. Many European groups that did not nixtamalize their corn developed B vitamin deficiency known as pellagra that left them with diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death.
While most of the corn we find in processed foods and grocery stores today is raw and of little nutritional value, you can find nixtamalized corn under the name "Masa Harina" in grocery stores today. This essentially translates to "dough flour" or "dough meal" in English. My favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mill as it only has two ingredients: corn and lime, with no preservatives.
Masa harina can be used to make nutritious and healthy tortillas at home! Here is a recipe I use frequently:
2 cups Masa harina
1 ½ cups warm water
½ teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Add salt to masa to evenly disperse in dough.
Add warm water, mixing dough with your hands as you go until it just comes together. Dough should not be flaky or sticky. It should be somewhere in between.
Place a ball of dough that fits your desired size of tortilla (I find a couple of tablespoons is a good size) between two sheets of plastic—I find a cut-open plastic bag works great—and squeeze.
NOTE: If the dough sticks to the plastic, it is too moist; if it crumbles apart, it is too dry.
In a preheated skillet, place your preferred high-temperature cooking fat until liquid. Cook tortilla for about a minute on the first side and 30 seconds on the other side or until golden brown.
If you are avoiding fat consumption, use oil sparingly. However, if you want a decadent crispy tortilla, use more oil.