Frugal cooking in the past often went way beyond simply trying to fill bellies. At it’s best, frugal cooks in the past made sure to fully utilize nutrition in the ingredients they used. We can learn a lot from historical practices…and mistakes.
One example of how one, very cheap and easy practice can make a huge difference in the quality of life of many is nixtamalization of corn, a traditional practice in Mexico. Unfortunately, those across the border in the US hadn’t (and haven’t) learned to copy this practice and it has had devastating effects.
“Consider maize (corn), towering grain of the Americas, a native food that would ultimately feed billions all over the world. True, this golden kernal has a wonderful taste, fantastic yields, and incredible adaptability to extreme climates. But, as food historian Sophie Coe has explained, what really made it a superior item was nixtamalization, a process developed by women somewhere in Central American, long before the time of Jesus. To make nixtamal, women soaked their corn grains in water with lime or wood ashes from their cooking fires, loosening the tough hulls that were characteristic of ancient strains of corn. The soaking made the kernels easier to grind into meal for tortillas. Or the cook might boil the nixtamal into a puffy ricelike dish called hominy (also called posole in the Southwest). Though these techniques made for good eating, much of the brilliance lay in the nutritional chemistry: alkali from the wood ashes enhanced the protein of the maize.
How much did this process really matter? Nixtamalized maize was so much better than the unprocessed kind, wrote Coe that ‘it is tempting to see the rise of Mesoamerican civilization as a consequence of this invention, without which the peoples of Mexico and their southern neighbors, would have remained forever on the village level.’
Some millennia later, Europeans would adopt corn without nixtamalization, contributing to widespread malnourishment and vitamin deficiencies such as pellagra.”
A Thousand Years over a Hot Stove, Laura Schenone, pg xxxi
Corn was introduced in Africa without nixtamalization. Because it became a staple food for many, it caused many nutritional deficiencies. When corn is nixtamalized, it released the vital nutrient B3. This prevents the painful disorder, pellegra. Pellegra makes you develop sore skin and mouths, makes you thin, listless and could cause depression, halucinations, irritability, and other mental disorders. In reality, Pellegra can and has ruined many lives.
In the Southern states, many of the poor depended on corn, once again without the nixtamalization process. Many of them suffered the devestating effects of pellegra because of it. While in Mexico, the poor did not suffer from it because their traditional practices saved them. It’s an important reminder of the power of cooking nourishing food using traditional practices.
“It is an ironic thought that the adoption of one simple “primitive” custom might have saved the tens of thousands of ruined lives in the Southern States.” A Diet of Tripe, Terence Mclaughlin as quoted in Nourishing Traditions.
You see, especially for the poor with limited resources, unlocking nutrients from grains, legumes, and corn is vital for well-being. When Europeans moved to America, they first survived because the Indians helped them. They would have done well to continue to learn and keep some of the Indians traditional practices, such as the Nixtamalization of corn.
And we would do well to learn from them now. It’s not to late! We can relearn these simple traditional practices. Especially if things get harder here in the US, it will be very important that we learn how to best use the food we have to best feed our family. Nixtamalization could help us do that.
For an example of how this is done, check out my recent soft polenta post. In my next post, I will be sharing more research about what Nixtamalization does. Releasing B3 is just part of the story.
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I found this article very interesting. We should pay more attention to the way things have been done for many generations, there was wisdom behind these practices. I was wondering if you knew any other names for nixtamal or lime, since I live in Europe and haven’t come across any here.
Hominy is so good! I wish I could find it outside of a can. Maybe we can make it at home? Something to look into. If I find any juicy details I will post back.
Hi Emilie,
YES! Good question. I will mention this again in my next post, but you can find it under the name of “pickling lime”. Many online stores that cater to home canners will sell it.
Rosy,
Do share what you find!
How fascinating! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
That is really intriguing. Thanks for posting that info. I am looking forward to hearing more. 🙂
Shirley
Speaking of corn, my husband and I just watched King Corn … a feature documentary on corn production here in the United States. Very eye opening, and I highly recommend it to everyone wondering and concerned about why we have corn by-products in everything! We picked it up from our local library.
I made polenta for lunch today. It was good. Most of my family wasn’t wild about it, and the ones with the corn allergy had something else. But I’m really looking forward to a small piece fried in butter for breakfast.
“Nixtamalization.” That’s one cool word. I collect cool words and that’s going near the top of the list!
Talking about soaking it in wood ashes made me think of some traditional food that we use from my husband’s culture. It is called traditional salt. (My husband is from Chad in Central Africa). From what I have gathered, it is made from burning certain plants and their roots (I believe), then the ashes are collected and water is poured through them and filtered out. This water is then boiled down until it becomes what looks like a chunk of salt. It is used to flavor sauces and it helps tenderize whatever meat is used in the sauce. We also take a bit whenever we start feeling sick, and it is amazing how well it works. I don’t know what all is in it, but one day I would like to test its makeup. We get a big chunk whenever we go to visit his family.
KH: WOW! That sounds amazing! I want some. 🙂 Does it taste just salt then? Thank you for sharing. That is very cool.
Rosita, Do you know what type of plants and roots they burn to make the ashes to use to make the salt?
Sounds like you guys made some hydroxide salts, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxide
When ever you burn something, all the carbon chains in plants get bonded with oxygen to become CO2 & CO; with a some hydrogen also
This leaves behind the alkaline elements of the plant, mix them with water and you can filter out the insoluble elements. hydroxides are in the liquid.
sounds just like “black salt” that was the very first commercial product early European settlers in upstate NY sold. It’s lye salt. You burn hardwood, soak the resultant ashes in water, filter off the result (lye), and boil it until the water is all gone. It was used to make soap, bleach fabrics, in fertilizers, and had some food uses.
Thanks so much for these posts, Kimi, they’re really informative!
Rosita,
I was so fascinated by your account that I went and did some research on traditional salt. 🙂 What I discovered is that traditional salt is the lye from particular plants (such as corncobs). At first I thought that couldn’t be right, but when I double-checked to composition of lye it made sense: lye is sodium hydroxide (sodium, of course, being salt). I learned something new today!
It’s amazing the things that can be done with ashes. A while back I set myself to the task of learning what people did before baking soda, and I learned that “pearl ash” was the homemade pre-curser, created by mixing ashes with water and boiling it down (potash) and then baking it until it turned white. The drawback to cooking with pearl ash instead of baking soda is that each batch differs in strength, so consistency is difficult; also, it tends to impart a bitter taste when used in recipes that call for oil–of course, since those are the two basic ingredients for soap!
Nutrition can be quite entertaining at times.
Heidi,
You are right about being of different strenghts and consistency, even color. We currently have some that his mother made, and some that his aunt made, and they are a bit different in texture and color, but seem to have the same effect in the sauces. I think they mainly use surghrum plants to make it in his area, since that is the major grain grown there.
Kimi,
It does taste a bit salty when you eat it plain, but it doesn’t add a salty taste to the food. Another difference from salt is you have to boil it for a while once you add it to a sauce. I can’t really describe the flavor, but if you email me a mailing address (I assume you can look up my e-mail address) I would be willing to send you a small sample. We really only use it when we are making foods that he grew up with, but I have been meaning to start adding it to some “western” foods.
wow, this is so informative!
What about making hominy? Has anyone tried it, and where do you get the corn for making hominy? I have been intrigued and thought it would be fun to try it – removing the hulls and all, but I feel to ignorant of even what kind of corn to buy to make it.
The item Rosita describes is likely some combination of potassium hydroxide and/or sodium hydroxide. The process described is very similar to that used for making Potash or Lye. This is technically a very agressive base / caustic and can be harmful in large quantities. It is one ingredient in soap. But I imagine it is a nice tenderizer. I think some Nordic countries use lye to preserve and tenderize certain types of fish (lutefisk?).
If anyone is interested, a great book about the history of Salt is “Salt” by Michael Kurlansky. Very, very interesting international story.
Great site. Thanks so much for your efforts in producing it.
Related to traditional salt is Juniper Ash Water which is used by the Navajo with blue corn. It has the benefit of adding calcium to the diet.
For the recipe to make Juniper Ash Water, and used in Blue Corn Dumplings. see:
http://www.ucan-online.org/legend.asp?legend=4799&category=3
Other ash waters are corn cob, and mesquite.
Also of interest is:
Intake of Nutrients and Food Sources of Nutrients among the Navajo
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/127/10/2085S.pdf
Hello,
I know this post was a while ago but I’m looking for a recipe to make traditional Hominy using potassium hydroxide from burnt wood ashes. Anybody?
Thanks,
Joan
This process of nixtamalization of corn seems to always refer to dried corn seeds. Can someone please clarify this? My primary concern is how this applies to eating fresh sweet corn right from the garden? Please email me at [email protected] with your comments, please!
So does this mean that grits are better for you than corn on the cob. That would be nice, because we love grits!
I find this very interesting, and I would encourage you to check out my blogpost showing my experience with nixtamal blue corn that we grew. The tamales were heavenly. Next stop: pozole soup!
http://thewildnweedykitchen.blogspot.com/2014/05/blue-corn-into-tamales.html
p.s. I love your blog!
Hi there,
I see that you are interested in vegetable/ash salts.
Here, read this http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/ansinet/ijp/0000/43370-43370.pdf
That should give you an idea of what scientists came up with.
Hi there,
I see that you are interested in vegetable/ash salts.
Here, read this http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/ansinet/ijp/0000/43370-43370.pdf
That should give you an idea of what scientists came up with.
And the Wikipedia page with the info you’re looking for is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_Namak
Wonder how people stumbled onto the idea of soaking corn in lye, who would have first thought of that, and why? Was it an accident? How did the first person to do it know it was a thing?
I think the earliest archaeological evidence is now about 5,000 years ago. I haven’t a clue as how they first learned to do it. Without nixtamalization , a corn rich diet causes the disease pellagra.
Corn is so specialized that the original corn plant, wild corn, no longer exists. There is genetic evidence that teotsente, is a close relative. It will cross breed with corn and re-invigorate corn. After corn and other plants are grown from the saved seed, year after year, the plants will get smaller, and are sickly and don’t produce much. The Mexican farmers let teotsente grow in the corners and borders of fields. They called it “corn strengthener). Now there is something else to ponder. The world owes a huge debt to Meso-American peoples for so much stuff. The original GMO. (Insert hand wringing here, while muttering OMG).
The nixtamalization of corn (maise) was an important food source for Southerners until about 1930 or so.
The process was taught to the European by the Southern Iriquois Confederation tribes.
The product was hominy, made with wood ash or sodium hydroxide (lye). The lye can at one time had the amount of lye to use for a quantity of water. The hominy is has a different flavor than the corn treated with lime, which is the traditional Mexican way, which makes tamal (masa) for tortillas and other good things.
The process does quite a bit to the corn grain, releasing several vitamins, particularly niacin, and allowing the full use of the nutritional value of corn.
About 1930, when Southerners stopped eating hominy grits, a vitamin and niacin deficient diet caused a widespread incidence of pellagra in children. That’s why so many foods are fortified with the vitamins and niacin that the North American diet is deficient of. What is sold as “grits” now is generally just cornmeal. In the Old South that was called cornmeal mush. In Italy it is called polenta. Now you know.
You are wrong that nixtamalization didn’t spread North. It was here before Europeans. It was called hominy and made with wood ashes and later sodium hydroxide, which was a faster process than the wood ash.
I have helped both of my Grandmothers make hominy, 1940s, 1950s. One in Arkansas, one in Texas.
The process was identical in each instance. It is not necessary to cook the mixture, just soaking will do. When the hulls are loosened and the grains swollen, rubbing the corn (now hominy), between the hands. Wash the hominy severaltimes before sticking your hands in the strong alkaline solution, as it changes the oil in your skin to soap, and you will lose a layer or two of skin.
Wood ash produces potassium hydroxide is why it takes longer, Potassium hydroxide is not as strong as sodium hydroxide. Wood ash soap is a soft soap, vs sodium hydroxide soap, which will harden.
To answer the lady whose husband was from Chad, the resulting lump from wood ash water is mostly potassium hydroxide. I don’t know that I would want to eat it.