There are almost 60 heirloom corn varieties in Mexico, with households and communities cultivating the completely different “breeds” of corn for a whole lot of years. Masienda, a dry corn and masa flour distribution firm, works to distribute eight lesser identified forms of corn to cooks and eating places world wide, sourcing from these native Mexican farmers. “I used to be so curious to see what the remainder tasted like,” mentioned Masienda founder Jorge Gaviria, referring to lesser identified heirloom corn. “How you can sort of perceive the nuances in between each and how one can share that story with cooks.”
A type of farmers, Juan Velasco Meza, explains how 4 several types of heirloom corn are grown within the wealthy, red-hued soil of Santa Ana Zegache, which produce a better yield and impart a candy taste. Corn stalks are reduce and dried out within the discipline for 15 to twenty days earlier than ears are picked off, manually unhusked, utterly de-kerneled with handed down instruments, and sorted by kernel measurement to be offered. The seeds from the corn are saved after every harvest and handed down by every era, with households counting on the prime quality grains for each meal. “With out corn, at the very least in Oaxaca, life wouldn’t be attainable,” Meza says. Masienda and these indigenous communities are working collectively to protect these “maize landraces,” in order that sooner or later the entire distinctive heirloom varieties in Mexico could be shared with the world.
Gaviria explains the distinction between heirloom corn and hybrid GMO corn, which is bred to supply extra ears however isn’t as tasty or nutritious as the previous. To protect these heirloom corn varieties, Meza and different farmers solely use single-colored corn, avoiding corn that has been cross-pollinated with varieties grown by different farms close by. Gaviria additionally highlights how Masienda tries to contain as many producers as attainable of their corn merchandise, rising from 12 to 2,000 producers through the years to ensure that the households and communities are solely promoting their surplus of heritage corn and may nonetheless subsist on their crop. Recruiting all these producers was an extended course of, with Masienda utilizing indigenous radio stations and loud audio system taking part in messages in numerous languages on prime of pizza supply vehicles to achieve farmers that might wish to promote their corn overstock.
Native corn producers stroll by way of how they prepare dinner the heirloom corn with conventional methods, together with the method of nixtamalization, the place corn is cooked down in alkaline water to interrupt down the cell partitions and unlock loads of vitamins within the kernels. Zapotec ladies then mill the corn, turning it into masa dough that’s utilized in tortillas and loads of different dishes. Cosme, a world-renowned NYC restaurant, was Masienda’s first buyer. 1000’s of miles away from the place the corn is produced, the restaurant has constructed their menu of tortillas and memelas across the do-it-yourself masa they make from the shipped kernels.
Watch the newest episode of Distributors to study extra about how Masienda is bringing Mexican heirloom corn to cooks whereas preserving the standard crop.
