The last meter you saw # TacoTuesday trending on social media , you belike did n’t give a 2d thought to nixtamalization . And yet it ’s an important cognitive operation we can thank ancient civilizations for , because it increases the enjoyment — and guard — of tacos . What the heck is nixtamalization anyway ?
The Bible come from the Aztec language calledNahuatland is a product of two words intend " ashes " and " unformed corn whisky dough " ortamal . This culinary proficiency is a centuries - old way of processing corn whiskey , perfect by pre - Columbian civilizations .
But there ’s path more to it than that . Native American societies — the Aztecs , Mayans and Incans , for example — knew that nixtamalization helped get the corn ready for making asoft dough . It also was necessary to make the cornsafefor their diet .
They did this by gazump the dry sum in an alkaline mixture of weewee , ash tree and lime . Steeping the meat this path made the Indian corn easier to digest and more nutritious .
So what does all of this have to do with # TacoTuesday ? We still use essentially the same process today that they did . It ’s significant in makingmasa , the dough used for tamales , tortillas and taco shells . Soaking the edible corn in the alkaline miscellany breaks down the cell walls of the marrow , making the corn easier to grind into flour .
How and why the pre - Columbian people developed the technique of nixtamalization is a mystery . But the 18th - century Europeans see the backbreaking manner that you do n’t want to skip this step .
When corn became a enceinte part of the diet of many Europeans , they savour it without nixtamalization . The process seemed unnecessary to them . But what result was a rampant outbreak of pallegra , which is a frightening disease due to niacindeficiency . ( Symptoms include predisposition to sun , peel lesions , dementedness and last if not treated . ) Today we know that nixtamalization release the niacin in the edible corn , making it easy to engage , as well as repress toxins produced by fungi call in mycotoxins .
Nixtamalization not only helps make killer tacos , but it also helps make them a little number safer for us to eat on .
