Masa and Nixtamal

Masa is just the Spanish word for dough, but to any Mexican it means, first and foremost, the moist corn dough for tortillas, tamales, and small dumplings. Before being ground, the corn is dried and turned into Nixtamal — hominy-like kernels that have swelled and acquired a new savor by soaking in an alkali solution (cal).

What exactly does nixtamalizing do to corn? I won’t try to describe the chemistry, but it softens the walls of the kernels enough so that they can be separated from the interior. Softened and enlarged by the cal solution, the skinless kernels have a taste and aroma like no other food on earth — a delicately nutty quality combined with something almost chalky or mineral-like.