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Dry Corn

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Upon moving to Wisconsin from Jalisco in western Mexico, Julian Zepeda asked his wife Heidi Zepeda, who hails from Spring Green, “With fields upon fields of beautiful corn in Wisconsin, why is no one making fresh corn tortillas?” Cooks like me who’d been searching for locally-produced tortillas for years were probably wondering the same thing.

Fortunately for us, the Zepedas set out to solve that problem. Their new tortilleria in the former Lonesome Stone Milling building in Lone Rock, WI, uses the ancient Aztec technique of nixtamalization to make traditional Mexican fresh corn tortillas from local non-GMO and organic corn.

The Zepedas have had a host of obstacles to overcome. The vast majority of the corn fields Julian was talking about aren’t filled with corn humans can actually eat, but instead genetically modified and chemical laden corn that’s destined for animal feed, industrial components, refined food products like high fructose corn syrup and corn oil, or ethanol fuel production. Fortunately, local growers like Meadowlark Organics of Ridgeway, Wisconsin (profiled in our Fall 2020 issue) are beginning to fill the demand for organic corn that can be used as whole kernels by producers like the Zepedas, or stone-milled into cornmeal for food co-ops, restaurants, and home cooks.

Unlike their industrialized relatives, foods made from whole grain organic corn can be quite good for you, with lots of fiber, minerals, and B vitamins. Dry corn has been a staple food of native North, Central, and South Americans for thousands of years and can be used to make all sorts of delicious foods, including popcorn. It can be milled and sifted into various levels of coarseness for flour, starch, cornmeal, grits, or polenta. Or, through an ancient technique first developed by the Aztecs and Mayans, it can be nixtamalized to improve the corn’s nutrition and digestibility. Early peoples used a hot alkaline solution made from wood ash to soften the dried corn kernels and dissolve their hulls. Today food processors employ the same process using calcium hydroxide derived from slaked limestone (also known as cal or pickling lime). Nixtamalized corn can be eaten whole as hominy or ground into masa dough for things like the Zepeda’s tortillas.

A glossary of corn:

  • Dent Corn—aka field corn— is used primarily as livestock feed, but also for processed foods. Most varieties grown in the Midwest are hybrid or genetically modified varieties of yellow varieties, but there are also many open-pollinated and hybrid varieties of white dent corn with a soft starch that’s excellent for grits and tortillas.
  • Flint Corn—aka Indian corn—has many colored varieties and, because it contains a very hard starch that retains its texture in cooking, is great for coarse cornmeal or polenta. Popcorn is a type of flint corn.
  • Sweet Corn is the only type of corn not suitable for drying as a grain. However, some sweet corn genetics can be bred into varieties of dry corn to increase their sweetness (Meadowlark Organics’ signature open-pollinated yellow flint corn that they’ve been growing for many years has some sweet corn genetics).
  • Cornmeal is dried corn ground between steel rollers, a process in which some or most of the germ and fiber are removed, making the cornmeal shelf stable but less nutritious than stone-ground cornmeal.
  • Stone-Ground Cornmeal is whole dry corn that has been ground between two grinding stones. A simple, very old process that retains much of the grain’s healthy fiber and germ, stone grinding results in a product that is more perishable than standard cornmeal. Stone-ground corn should be stored in the fridge or freezer.
  • Cornstarch—aka corn flour—a refined product made from the ground endosperm of the corn kernel, is primarily used as a thickener.
  • Masa is dough made from corn that has been nixtamalized. Masa can be used to make tortillas, tamales, sopes, and other similar foods. Masa harina is a dried flour made from masa dough.
  • Grits area coarsely ground white dent corn used to make a porridge very popular in the American South. When you see it labeled as hominy grits, it means that it’s been nixtamalized like masa harina to remove the hull and make it more digestible.
  • Polenta is coarse stone-ground yellow flint corn. It’s used to make a porridge that can be eaten loose and creamy or set into cakes to be grilled or pan-fried.

Fresh, Local Corn Tortillas

Nothing beats the taste of made-from-scratch corn tortillas. Fortunately for us, fresh, local tortillas are having a moment. Taco lovers, rejoice!

Tortilleria Zepeda in Spring Green:
See full list of where to buy at tortilleriazepeda.com

Tortillas Los Angeles in Madison:
Contact: 608-345-3089 - tortillaslosangeles@gmail.com

Bandit Tacos in Madison:
Order fresh tortillas (and much more) for pick up or delivery at bandit-tacos.com.

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