What is nixtamization?

nixtamization is a process that includes soaking grain in a high alkaline solution to release the outer fuselage known as a pericarp. When the grains are nixtamized, the solution releases available nutrients and proteins in grain, which is accessible to consumers and thus increases the nutritional value of the grain. This process also makes grain easier and can handle. The most commonly nixtamized grain is corn; As a result, some people mistakenly believe that "nixtamization" concerns the treatment of corn. Archaeologists are not entirely sure when nixtamization has been discovered, but it can be said that it is practiced that it is practiced from at least 2,000 years before the BCE and can be much older. The first solid remains of nixtamization date back to about 1,500 BCE and were discovered in Guatemala.

The discovery of nixtamization probably revolutionized American society. Corn is one of the "three nurses", crops that formed most of the cultivated crops for Americans until the arrival of Europeans; The other two were fAzole and Squash. Unfortunately, the untreated corn is nutritionally missing, and the permanent diet of an unnecessary corn can actually cause a condition known as the pellagra due to vitamin deficiency. By learning how to handle corn, people have improved their diet significantly and laid foundations for centuries, because without nixtamization there would be no tortillas, tamale and many other beloved Latin American dishes.

There are several phases in the nixtamization process. The first stage includes soaking dried corn with lime solution, often with the mixing of ash. In Latin America, many people call the lime "cal" as an abbreviation for "calcium oxide" then brewed grain, leaving steep, exhausted and rinse, sometimes several times as soon as the rinsing is completed, the grain can be ground that can either be used fresh or left to corn flour.

In some regional Latin American kitchens, CAL is also used in cooking, where it releases dietary nutrients for consumers. SPthe heathellars who want to nixamize their own grain can find the necessary supplies in any Latin American food facility; For those who are not so inclined, most food sells fresh and dried meat. If you happen to live near the tortilla factories, it is also a good source for fresh meat.