A brief study on maize

on JANUARY 27, 2019

For those of you who do not subscribe to food porn-hub, apologies because we’re going to get busy with a giant ingredient in food history: maize (aka corn). Just a passing glance at a mexican cookbook or restaurant menu will impart the importance of this prolific grain in Mexican culture. Like rice, maize heavily contributed to a population explosion and allowed early mesoamerica to bloom.

a few varieties of dried maize

I knew a bit about the history before my recent trip to Mexico. Maize was first cultivated in south-central Mexico around 9,000 years ago and originally had tiny little cobs that more resembled a grass flower like wheat. Eons of cross breeding and careful cultivation led to bigger ears, bigger kernels and multiple ears per stalk. Early mesoamerican cultures like the Olmecs and Mayans revered this life-giving food and it is no accident that the maize god features heavily in their art and architecture.

mayan god of maize

What I learned on my visit was that maize plays a much more pivotal and varied role in Mexican cooking than I had thought. This makes total sense, but did you know that they use different types of maize for each dish? This was highlighted especially in Michoacan, where various tamale-like dishes feature heavily. Uchepos – a sweet little steamed pocket of goodness – are made with a more sweet variety of maize; while uchepos – their more savory cousin – are made of a similar variety of maize to tamales except ground more coarsely. The same goes for tortillas, pozole, atole – all different kinds of maize.

Hands-down, a shining highlight of the trip to Mexico for me was our cooking class in Morelia with the incomparable Cynthia Martínez which included a trip to Mercado San Juan. I’m a self-proclaimed junkie when it comes to food markets. If you let me, I’ll drone on about the market trips I’ve made in different countries and how I feel they are a window to understanding the local culture. I’ll save you the lecture, but instead curate a few pictures that illustrate the versatility of this ancient grain.

our group outside the mercado san juan

maize of the sweet variety

We wandered through the stalls learning and tasting.

huitlacoche – corn infected with a fungus which imparts and earthy nutty flavor

This market also had probably the best carnitas I’ve ever had with tortillas that came from a rube goldberg-like mechanical tortilla press and cooker that had freshly ground masa shoved into it.

carnitas carved stand-side and served with fresh tortillas and salsa from the molcajete

many different forms of masa food holders