Tortillas de Maíz Azul Cónico

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large nonreactive pot for nixtamal
• •Hand-crank molino, electric grain mill, or metate
• •Tortilladora press
• •Clay comal or heavy cast iron comal
• •Woven tortilla basket lined with a cotton servilleta

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the corn

   Sort the blue Cónico corn with your hands. Remove stones, broken kernels, and any dusty bits from the sack. Rinse the corn until the water runs mostly clear. This is where tortillas begin, not in a paper bag of masa harina. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.

2. 2

   Cook with cal

   Put the corn, 3 quarts water, and cal in a nonreactive pot. Stir well so the cal dissolves. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 25 to 35 minutes, until the skins loosen and you can bite a kernel and see the center still slightly firm. Do not boil it to death. The cal opens the corn, releases its smell, and prepares it for the metate or molino.

   Use food-grade cal, not hardware-store lime. Ask at a Mexican market, tortilleria, or molino. The bag should say cal para nixtamal.
3. 3

   Rest overnight

   Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the corn rest in its cal water for 8 to 12 hours. The liquid will turn yellow-gray and the corn will smell mineral, earthy, and sweet. That rest is not waiting time. It is the nixtamal becoming itself.

4. 4

   Rinse the nixtamal

   Drain the nixtamal. Rinse it under cool water, rubbing the kernels between your palms until most of the skins slip away but the corn still feels alive, not polished clean. Leave a little skin. It gives flavor and grip to the masa. If you scrub it like a factory, you lose character.

5. 5

   Grind the masa

   Grind the rinsed nixtamal in a hand-crank molino, electric mill, or on a metate if you have the back for it. Add water a spoonful at a time only if the grinder struggles. The masa should come out soft, cohesive, and blue-gray, with a smell like wet stone and warm corn. A food processor can help in an emergency, but it will not give the same fine grind. A compromise is a compromise, not an upgrade.

6. 6

   Knead and test

   Knead the masa with the salt for 5 minutes. It should feel like soft clay, moist but not sticky. Pinch off a piece and flatten it between your fingers. If the edges crack, knead in water 1 tablespoon at a time. If it smears wet and heavy, let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes. Masa teaches you through your hands. Pay attention.

7. 7

   Press the tortillas

   Heat a clay comal or heavy cast iron comal over medium-high heat. Line a tortilladora with two pieces of plastic cut from a clean produce bag. Roll the masa into golf-ball-size portions, about 35 grams each. Press one ball firmly but not violently. Open the press, rotate the tortilla, and press once more if needed. The tortilla should be thin, round enough, and still clearly made by hand.

8. 8

   Cook on comal

   Lay the tortilla on the hot comal. Cook 20 to 30 seconds, just until the surface releases. Flip and cook the second side about 45 seconds, until blue freckles and small brown spots appear. Flip a third time and press gently with your fingertips or a folded cloth. A good tortilla will puff. That puff tells you the masa was hydrated correctly and the comal was hot enough.

9. 9

   Hold under cloth

   Move each tortilla to a woven basket lined with a clean cotton servilleta. Cover immediately. The tortillas finish softening together under the cloth, and the stack keeps its warmth. Serve them with beans, quelites, eggs in salsa, or just salt and a good salsa de molcajete. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Buy whole dried blue Cónico corn from a Mexican mercado, a trusted tortilleria, or a farmer who can tell you where the corn was grown. If the seller cannot name the state, keep asking. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •The comal matters. Clay gives the gentlest heat and the best aroma, but cast iron works if that is what you have. A nonstick skillet makes a tortilla, yes, but it will not taste like the one from a Tlaxcala kitchen.
• •Do not add fat. This is not a northern flour tortilla and it is not bread dough. Corn, cal, water, salt. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If your tortillas do not puff, check three things: the masa is too dry, the comal is too cool, or the tortilla was pressed unevenly. Fix the cause. Do not blame the corn.
• •Fresh masa should smell clean, sweet, and mineral. If it smells sour before cooking, it sat too long. Feed it to the compost and begin again.

Advance Preparation

• •The corn can be cooked with cal and left to rest overnight, 8 to 12 hours, before rinsing and grinding the next day.
• •Fresh masa can be held covered at room temperature for 2 hours, or refrigerated up to 24 hours. Bring it back to room temperature and knead in a little water before pressing.
• •Cooked tortillas keep wrapped in a servilleta for several hours. To reheat, place them directly on a hot comal until flexible and spotted again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 58g)