Masa Conundrum

[scott123]

I have ground field corn that I'm trying to make into masa. Every recipe I have is for whole field corn. Is it possible to do this?

In a perfect world I'd have whole field corn to work with. Unfortunately all I have is ground corn and I need to get tortillas out of this.

The soaking time would be less since the surface exposure would be greater, correct? Also, would cheese cloth and a weight be good for rinsing/squeezing out the lime solution?

Any ideas would be hugely appreciated.

[fifi]

I am not sure you can treat the ground corn with lime and expect to get the same thing as treating whole corn. With whole corn, the kernal is only exposed to the lime from the outside with chemical action on the, hull mainly. With ground corn, you have all of the starchy "innards" exposed. I am not sure what that would do and I am also not sure how you would ever "rinse" out the lime.

[esperanza]

Scott, this idea is ingenious but unfortunately it won't work.

The purposes of soaking and simmering whole dried corn in slaked lime water are (1) to ease the removal the corn kernel's hard outer covering and (2) to increase the nutritional value of the corn by making it more digestible. The prepared corn must be washed thoroughly following treatment to remove the lime residue.

The prepared corn (nixtamalado) is ready for grinding only after its lengthy preparation.

[caroline]

Scott, I agree with Fifi and Esperanza. The trouble presumably is that if you cook corn meal (presuming that's what you're using) in an aqueous solution of lime you're going to end up with mush/polenta with an alkaline taste. There would not no way I can think of to get the lime out of that mush.

If you cook the whole kernels though you can just rinse out the lime solution. Wonderful smell by the way,

Rachel

[scott123]

Okay, maybe I need to rephrase the question.

What would you do, if someone handed you a bucket of finely ground field corn, put a gun to your head, and said, "make me tortillas."

[scott123]

There would not no way I can think of to get the lime out of that mush.

Very fine cheesecloth weighted with a brick?

If one can extract the moisture from yogurt, I'm sure it can be done with this.

[gingerly]

hide in the corn field with a foil funnel on your head...

seriously-at this stage it seems unlikely you can separate the endosperm(?)so why not try the cheesecloth in a sieve and a series of hot lime washes followed by rinses?

an idle mind..

[fifi]

Okay, maybe I need to rephrase the question.

What would you do, if someone handed you a bucket of finely ground field corn, put a gun to your head, and said, "make me tortillas."

Maybe you make them anyway. There is a case for non-treated corn being made into tamales. I don't know about tortillas. I just learned about the tamales from reading Robb Walsh's book The Tex-Mex Cookbook, A History in Recipes and Photos.

This sounds like a good question for Robb in the upcoming Q&A.

[theabroma]

Okay, maybe I need to rephrase the question.

What would you do, if someone handed you a bucket of finely ground field corn, put a gun to your head, and said, "make me tortillas."

Scott, I just had a deep conversation and a demonstration from a deep East Texas gal on making tamale masa from cornmeal. That's all she, her family, and neighbors ever used to make 'hot tamales,' and she found my description of masa or Maseca very strange.

She added salt to the cornmeal, and bit by bit some boiling water. No fat, no baking powder. It was a little like starting a batch of hot water cornbread. Once this not very wet mix was wet enough to stick together, she spread it onto corn husks, filled it with pork in chile con carne, closed the wrapper and steamed it. And steamed it. For about half an hour longer than tamales normally take (about an hour).

I have not tried tortillas, nor have I seen them done from cornmeal, but I think that you would make a somehwhat less damp, hot water cornbread type dough from cornmeal and boiling water, and then pat them out between banana leaves or plastic bags, and then pull off the top bag, and turn the 'tortilla' onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook and flip.

I am morbidly curious now and will 1) give this a try over the weekend, and 2) follow the Q&A for your question ...

Theabroma

[scott123]

Thank you for all your wonderful ideas.

There's one thing that changes the playing field a bit. Other than being ground, I'm practically positive that this is unprocessed field corn, unlike corn meal which has been steamed/dehulled. I am corresponding with the manufacturer as we speak regarding the process involved.

Normally, the tough outer hull would either rise to the top of the boil or be rubbed off between one's fingers. Assuming my product hasn't been dehulled, my cheesecloth process probably wouldn't remove much of it. I know the lime causes the hull to degrade enough to be removed. I was wondering if the lime made it soft enough to actually eat.

Are there any recipes that utilize the outer hull?

[shelora]

Interesting project, let us know what the manufacturer says. I've never heard of the outer hull being used in a recipe. I would think it is undigestible and would make great compost for your garden or pig feed.

s

[caroline]

I think Fifi's right. Nixtamalization is not necessary for a steamed dumpling which is what tamales essentially are.

Not only in Texas but through much of South America tamales or tamale-type things are made with corn meal. Of course they have a different flavor.

Probably (and I think I've read this somewhere) nixtamalization was a late addition to maize technology. Tamales came first. What nixtamalization did (and presumably it was first done to add/change flavor) was to make the resultant ground dough flexible when patted into a disk and cooked.

Masa harina gives a less flexible tortilla than fresh masa. Some Mexicans correct this by adding up to four tablespoons of flour to a kilo of masa harina.

Rachel

[scott123]

Interesting project, let us know what the manufacturer says. I've never heard of the outer hull being used in a recipe. I would think it is undigestible and would make great compost for your garden or pig feed.

s

I did a little research on corn last night. Apparently the popcorn variety of corn has a harder hull than field. And that, as we all know, is eaten in it's entirety. I'm not sure that the hull would add a pleasant taste to a tortilla but I doubt that it would be inedible.

Edited July 14, 2004 by scott123 (log)

[shelora]

I'm sure you could eat it, but could you digest it?

My husband works as a medical photographer and I'm haunted by what he said over the dinner table one evening. - yes, I know, the dinner table of all places. The #1 thing found in people's stomach during autopsy is kernel corn.

I love everything done with corn in Mexico, but every since this story, I have an aversion to corn niblets.

Sorry if that was too gross for morning reading, but I just had to share.

s

[scott123]

The hull would just be some extra dietary fiber. Nothing wrong with that. What goes in, comes out.

And I'm sure the reason why corn is so commonly found during autopsies is that it's a popular food and because the hull doesn't digest, it's quite recognizable. I don't think corn stays in the stomach for days at a time, if that's what concerns you.