How to Make Corn Tortillas: Nixtamalizing and Grinding Dried Corn

The process of nixtamalization is a simple one, one that has been practiced for generations by those whose mainstay is the corn grain. Corn masa, the dough that makes tortillas and chips and tamales, cannot be made without this process. But it wasn't done for frivolous reasons or for aesthetic purposes. Instead, those who subsisted off of corn and other local foods found it imperative to their health. Pellagra is a disease often acquired by cultures who began to utilize corn in large amounts in their diet. When corn was introduced to a new culture through travel or trade, and the historic practice of nixtamalizing the corn was ignored, people often fell ill with skin, digestive, and mental disorders. This was later diagnosed as pellagra. Those who had been subsisting on corn for generations and who were taught to soak their corn in lime, however, consumed corn as the backbone of their diet without such symptoms. Their was wisdom in the preparation. This process of soaking and cooking the corn in an alkaline solution - nixtamalization - is now known to release a B vitamin called niacin. Pellagra - and the vitamin and amino acid deficiencies related to it - can be prevented when the diet contains enough niacin. Nixtamalization, therefore, is a simple practice that transforms corn into a nourishing everyday food by releasing the niacin and making the grain more digestible.