STORY
Making Masa: A Family Tradition in Mexico
Nohemi’s kitchen is the heart of her home – a cool, inviting space out of the blazing sun where corn crops thrive in the rolling hills of Michoacán, Mexico. Her kitchen also serves as a classroom where she teaches her daughter the traditional process of making masa from corn. Corn, or maize, is central to Mexico’s food culture, with its ancestral significance dating back nearly ten thousand years.
Mexico has celebrated corn as a vital staple for millennia, with its use originating over 9,000 years ago in Mesoamerica.1 Many Indigenous Mexicans consider corn sacred, more than just a sustenance crop; the ancient grain is a gift from their ancestors.
Nohemi and her family are part of the Mazahua Indigenous community, which sits adjacent to one of the largest Monarch butterfly reserves on the planet. The butterflies, like maize, carry spiritual meaning and play an important role in the residents’ everyday lives.
“During the past five centuries, while our people have withstood suffering — enormous sufferings — our corn has allowed us to survive.”2
-A Tzotzil Maya elder
Making Masa
The process of creating masa begins with drying and cleaning the corn, and sorting out the imperfect kernels and dust. Typically the corn is then soaked in an alkaline solution, like lime water, a process called nixtamalization. This crucial step softens the corn and removes the hull, making it easier to process. Once the corn is soaked or cooked, it is ground into flour or harina. By adding water, salt, and other ingredients, flour becomes a dough, or masa, the foundation for a plethora of Mexican foods like tortillas, tamales, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, and atole, just to name a few.
Mexican families have many culinary traditions centered around corn – starting with the beautiful process of making masa. The activity is a family affair, with the tools and techniques of turning maize into a multitude of delicious dishes passed down from generation to generation. Children participate from an early age, helping their mothers and grandmothers transform the corn from kernel to table. One example is the tamalada, a festive Christmastime celebration where families gather for an all-day tamale-making party using (sometimes secret) family recipes.2
At five months pregnant, Marlen’s pregnancy was going smoothly. She had a healthy appetite, starting most days with atole – a traditional smoothie-like meal made with bananas, oats, and corn. Marlen’s in-laws grow corn and beans for the family to eat.
The Art of the Tortilla
One of the most essential foods made from masa is the tortilla. Lisbeth and her son, Brayan, demonstrated their technique by expertly sliding the masa onto the comal, a round flat grill in their kitchen, with a practiced flip of the hand. Lisbeth explained that making tortillas is a daily task, listing it alongside her other chores, such as washing dishes, doing laundry, and tending to their garden, which includes cauliflower, broccoli, cilantro, beans, carrots, and of course, corn. While mother and son prepare the tortillas, Katia, her youngest daughter, pretends to cook in her own “kitchen.” nearby.
Lisbeth and her son demonstrate cooking tortillas in their home in Michoacán, Mexico.
Making masa is truly a family affair, one that tastes good and stokes the fire of an ancient tradition, connecting communities through their food heritage.
Vitamin Angels provided nutrition interventions to the families of Nohemi, Marlen, and Lisbeth. Marlen received prenatal vitamins and minerals from her healthcare provider, Mujeres Aliadas, who is a partner of Vitamin Angels. Meanwhile, Nohemi and Lisbeth’s children were given Vitamin A and deworming treatment through Pro Mazahua, another partner organization.
