There are practically 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 recognized styles of corn to cooks and eating places around the globe, sourcing from these native Mexican farmers. “I used to be so curious to see what the remaining tasted like,” stated Masienda founder Jorge Gaviria, referring to lesser recognized heirloom corn. “The way to type of perceive the nuances in between every one and share that story with cooks.”
A type of farmers, Juan Velasco Meza, explains how 4 various kinds 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, fully 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 least in Oaxaca, life wouldn’t be potential,” Meza says. Masienda and these indigenous communities are working collectively to protect these “maize landraces,” in order that sooner or later all the distinctive heirloom varieties in Mexico might be shared with the world.
Gaviria explains the distinction between heirloom corn and hybrid GMO corn, which is bred to provide 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 potential 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 might nonetheless subsist on their crop. Recruiting all these producers was a protracted course of, with Masienda utilizing indigenous radio stations and loud audio system taking part in messages in numerous languages on high of pizza supply vehicles to succeed in farmers that may need to promote their corn overstock.
Native corn producers stroll by way of how they cook 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 home made masa they make from the shipped kernels.
Watch the newest episode of Distributors to be taught extra about how Masienda is bringing Mexican heirloom corn to cooks whereas preserving the standard crop.