Great Products Argentina
Writes: Laura Litvin (@laulitvin)
Far from biblical genesis, American man was not made of clay. The liturgy of the continent says that God created man on the basis of corn. So since the dawn of time, these grains have been considered a sacred food. As is the corn mote.
From corn derived much of the characteristics economic, social and religious of the Mesoamerican peoples. Its cultivation was immersed in the cosmological conceptions, the ritual life and the development of the productive activities of these communities. Today the transgenic corn is a commodity and it is the base of thousands of industrial products.
However, fundamental cultural processes of the ancestors are still in force in different regions of America and rescue noble products in their conception such as, for example, the corn mote.
Nixtamalization, the great transformation
The inhabitants of America they learned to cultivate the corn. When they mastered the technique, questions arose: “How to enhance the enormous properties of the corn? How to keep it longer? "
The ancient Mexicans found an extraordinary way of solving the deficiencies of the corn raw: nixtamalization.
It is a procedure that subsists to this day and was transmitted between generations as a fundamental knowledge. Consists in boil the grains in water with lime or ashes, which allows peeling and removing the surface scale from the corn. Let it air and dry in the sun.
With its grinding, a wet dough that is used in various preparations, especially in the famous Mexican corn tortillas.
During cooking, the corn changes its chemical and molecular structure: absorbs calcium and potassium, plus it is much easier to peel and grind. As well decontaminates grains and provides amino acids that the human body cannot produce on its own. Without the process of nixtamalization, the culture of corn en America it would not have existed.
The mote corn, sustainable and natural
After his transformation the corn mote remains dry, so it is possible to keep it for a long time. Whole, these chunky white pimples are sustenance of stews and soups in the north of Argentina, in Bolivia y Peru. In Mexico, in addition to the tasty tortillas, it is the main ingredient of the famous pozole, among numerous dishes.
Its toasted flavor is unmistakable and prints that Latin note to each recipe in which it becomes the protagonist. It seems true that we are made of corn.
