I lived in New Mexico for several years and an elderly woman taught me how to make nixtamal using posole.
There is the dry you can rehydrate or the kind that is in the refrigerated or frozen section in the supermarket.
If you can find a good Mexican grocery that will help.
I make lots of flour and corn tortillas.
ps- the best Amazon has to offer seems to be "Fat And The Moon Face Paste", a facial scrub made from corn masa and olive oil. Probably not what you want.
Try mirancho.com- MiRancho is a fairly large chain of excellent Mexican markets, and they carry fresh masa- not sure of their mailorder policies, though.
Thanks for all your thoughts and info. Sam1148: I am wanting fresh dough made from freshly processed masa. (I am afraid going through that laborious process myself just isn't in the cards.) I know I can get it from Tortilleria Nixtamal in NY, but since I am in Philly . . . Of course, I can always make dough from masa harina, but that is decidedly 2nd best. I will keep looking for a source in the Philly area or a business that will mail order.
to the best of my knowledge, this place sells fresh masa but does not do mail order. if you plan on being in the nyc area in the near future, it might be worth stopping by, though: http://www.tortillerianixtamal.com/
I'm not sure what you're going for here. Pre-made dough, or the dried flour?
Most use the dried masa harina flour and mix it up quickly in small batches. At that point it's called "Masa".
Nixtamal is the same base component masa harina flour. Basically it's dried corn, processed with lime. Very similar to southern 'homey' corn. (corn kernels soaked in lime to bleach white). Yes, you could probably make by hand by cutting off corn kernels, soaking in lime water, drying and grinding...but then you've just made masa hernia.
I honestly do not know...but I think the masa herina has been pressured cooked a bit then dried after the lime soak to make it a more uniform product---like 'quick cooking grits'. that's just my gut feeling, tho.
The lime releases vitamins; making the corn digestible and the vitamins available for humans.
Ahh..here you go for homemade http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Homemade-640/make-masa-nixtamal.aspx
As I understand it, fresh masa (the actual dough) must be used quickly once it's made, so not sure about mail order. Masa harina, of course, is dried and has a much longer shelf life.
Huh. I've never made them with anything other than masa harina. I bet if you have a Mexican section of town, you could find a tortilleria and ask to purchase some fresh masa, if that's what they use. Fresh tortillas are one of my all-time favorite things, so I'd love to hear if you have any luck in hunting down the masa and making them. Hot tortilla, butter, salt... Mmmm.
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There is the dry you can rehydrate or the kind that is in the refrigerated or frozen section in the supermarket.
If you can find a good Mexican grocery that will help.
I make lots of flour and corn tortillas.
Most use the dried masa harina flour and mix it up quickly in small batches. At that point it's called "Masa".
Nixtamal is the same base component masa harina flour. Basically it's dried corn, processed with lime. Very similar to southern 'homey' corn. (corn kernels soaked in lime to bleach white). Yes, you could probably make by hand by cutting off corn kernels, soaking in lime water, drying and grinding...but then you've just made masa hernia.
I honestly do not know...but I think the masa herina has been pressured cooked a bit then dried after the lime soak to make it a more uniform product---like 'quick cooking grits'. that's just my gut feeling, tho.
The lime releases vitamins; making the corn digestible and the vitamins available for humans.
Ahh..here you go for homemade http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Homemade-640/make-masa-nixtamal.aspx