Masa and Masa Preparations

The staff of life for most Mexicans is still just what it was before Cortez’s army ate their first tortillas in 1519: a preparation of dried corn kernels soaked in an alkaline solution of slaked lime until they swell and undergo a crucial chemical change that vastly enhances their food value. (For more on the history of corn.) When not used whole for dishes like pozole, the softened and cooked kernels are ground up to produce a moist mixture that Mexicans call simply masa, or dough, the basis of all corn tortillas and most tamales.