[HN Gopher] Mexico's heirloom corn strains are resurging amid mo...
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Mexico's heirloom corn strains are resurging amid more demand
Author : DocFeind
Score : 122 points
Date : 2023-07-26 15:01 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nbcnews.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nbcnews.com)
| mistrial9 wrote:
| native people in that area had a special relationship to corn for
| centuries before the arrival of the West. Short story is that
| corn was an early "science" target for genetically modified
| strains. A rough analogy to the conflict might be "vegetarian
| civilization considers cows sacred for centuries; new rulers
| decide cattle branding and breeding control are just commerce" ..
| something like that.. there is an emotional and cultural
| relationship to food, and long term residency in a place, that
| does not show up in commerce.
| kykeonaut wrote:
| You can see evidence of this genetic experimentation with crops
| in Moray, a set of terraces built at different altitude levels
| created by the Inca culture in the Andes mountains [0]. It is
| believed that the Incas would acclimatize crops to the high
| elevations of the Andes mountains in these terraces.
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moray_(Inca_ruin)
| pessimizer wrote:
| What choice do they have? The US subsidizes corn massively, and
| dumps it tariff-free into Mexico. This is like micro-brews, but
| corn.
| ClumsyPilot wrote:
| US also pushes biofuel from Corn, which causes more CO2 than
| simply burning oil:
|
| https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-corn-based-e...
| mrguyorama wrote:
| The point of ethanol in gasoline is to replace roughly 15% of
| the oil we consume with not-oil that we make here (because
| 30% of our entire imports were saudi oil for decades) for
| energy independence, to have another way to subsidize people
| in Iowa, and to replace MTBE as an octane booster because it
| kept leaching out of ground storage tanks and poisoning
| innocent people. Ethanol pisses a lot of people off for
| various reasons but it's an extremely safe octane booster
| compared to our previous substances, keeps american energy
| less dependent on a war mongering desert country, and is yet
| another way to funnel tax dollars to a few big corn
| conglomerates.
|
| Even if the only thing ethanol in gasoline did was increase
| octane, it's such a big improvement in safety compared to
| MTBE that it would still be a success. If you think early
| 2000s america gave a fuck about carbon emissions when the
| current administration was literally an oil baron, IDK what
| to tell you.
| [deleted]
| miguelazo wrote:
| The US massively subsidizes corn, AND as part of NAFTA got
| President Salinas to legalize privatization of the ejidos.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejido
| icouldntresist wrote:
| This gives me hope! I was reading some of Dianna Kennedy's ("The
| Julia Child of Mexico") books and she goes into some detail of
| the loss of heirloom varieties of different crops in Mexico due
| to cheap imports. The peppers were especially affected; the local
| Mexican industry was inundated by imports from China, which were
| often not even the pepper which it was advertised to be. This had
| a severe impact on the local pepper production, many of which
| depended on local microclimates for cultivation and are not
| available outside that particular region of Mexico.
| MichaelZuo wrote:
| They are absolutely being grown in greenhouses of various
| agricultural research centres around the world.
|
| For mass market commercial production, probably not.
| acadapter wrote:
| I wish that the "nixtamal" precooked form of corn would be more
| widely available in Europe. It really is a superior product
| compared to plain corn flour - I didn't really like most corn-
| based dishes before I tried it.
| alexambarch wrote:
| If you're desperate enough, you can nixtamalize corn by getting
| your hands on some calcium hydroxide (referrred to as cal) and
| giving some kernels a good overnight bath in a mixture of cal
| and water. The obvious downside being that it takes forever
| (and also the mixture is caustic so you can't touch it).
| blovescoffee wrote:
| I've done this process maybe 5 times, and I live in Mexico
| where it's done daily. It really doesn't take that long
| relative to cooking a good loaf of bread. And I've never had
| problems touching the mixture as long as I wash my hands etc.
| Not trying to dismiss you, just want to share that it's
| really an easy process and everyone should try it!
| ingenieros wrote:
| Coolchile in the UK will export their masa to just about every
| country in the E.U.
| kykeonaut wrote:
| I literally just bought some nixtamal online the other day, I
| wish there were more shops that carried it.
|
| More interestingly, I was extremely surprised to discover that
| nixtamal is completely absent in South America, despite the
| high consumption of corn products. I lived in Peru for a time,
| and buying nixtamal was impossible, not one vendor, physical or
| online, carried it.
| ingenieros wrote:
| The process is not completely absent in South America, it's
| just named differently. In Colombia for example it is
| referred to as maiz "pelado" and in Venezuela it is spelled
| slightly different "pelao" but the process is identical to
| what Mexicans call nixtamal.
| sendfoods wrote:
| Not sure where you are based, but recently found these german
| farmers [0] that use local corn with imported machinery for
| their products. They also sell fresh masa (which, I guess, you
| are referring to?) as opposed to already pressed tortillas.
|
| [0] https://www.tlaxcalli.de/
| onli wrote:
| Thank you! I had no idea this existed in Germany, and I know
| some people who will be very happy because of this discovery.
| sendfoods wrote:
| That makes me unreasonably happy to hear! I really miss
| good mexican and latin food in mainland Europe.
|
| Of all places I could think of spreading the word HN was
| definitely the last place :D
| morsch wrote:
| Wow, that's quite the find. Thanks for the link.
| sendfoods wrote:
| It's honestly a shame how hard it is to find true latin
| american foods and restaurants in parts of europe. I stuff
| my face with anything mexican/latin american every time I
| visit the States...Already miss it.
|
| Masa Harina is becoming pretty easy to find though. Most
| asian (for some reason) grocers carry it.
| nathancahill wrote:
| If you want to try some (in the US), I highly recommend Masienda:
| https://masienda.com. Expensive but flavorful.
| diob wrote:
| Interesting, I just met a group starting a co-op around heirloom
| varieties of plants etc. and promoting them / selling food
| products made from them.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| This reminds me: I'm currently reading "At Home" (Bill Bryson),
| and he says that the mystery of how ancient peoples managed to
| turn teosinte into something worth growing and eating. The
| scholarly research, e.g. [1] seems to be about maize _spread_ ,
| which is interesting, but it begs the question of how and why
| they made it into maize in the first place.
|
| Even more amusing, he says there was a conference at the Univ. of
| Illinois in 1969 on this, and it was so contentious (even getting
| personal at times) that no papers resulted.
|
| [1] https://archive.ph/Ub586
| neves wrote:
| One of the best things of traveling to Peru is to taste their
| enormous variety of corn and potatoes. We see how bland our diet
| really is.
| zwieback wrote:
| Has anyone grown heirloom varieties in their home garden and is
| it worthwhile, e.g. does it taste good or is it more for the
| nostalgia factor?
| estatico wrote:
| Heirloom corn is not necessarily better or tastier. The natives
| planted different kinds and they each had different resistance
| to different issues, i.e. drought, soil, elevation. They were
| diversifying their crops in case something wiped out one of
| them they had other options.
| jimnotgym wrote:
| One huge benefit is that you can keep your own seed to grow
| next year.
|
| Hybrid seeds usually do not come true to type if kept.
|
| Commercial varieties also often have some kind of IP
| restriction which makes it illegal to grow from seed you kept.
| bluGill wrote:
| Commercial varieties don't normally have the IP restrictions.
| A few do, but most don't. However hybrids don't breed true so
| only a fool would save seeds. Non-hybrids breed true, but
| generally don't yield as well so there is a lot less profit
| in them (though sometimes there is more if that variety is in
| demand it)
| civilitty wrote:
| It depends on what you're looking for. You'll struggle to grow
| something as sweet as store bought sweetcorn but you can easily
| grow corn with deeper and richer flavor at home. Just make sure
| to select a variety meant for direct human consumption and not
| animal feed or ethanol (some are for human consumption but only
| once processed).
|
| US industrialized food is almost universally bland and
| tasteless compared to home grown because they're picked too
| early and bred for aesthetics and transport - it's an issue
| every immigrant I know struggles with. On top of that, there
| are dozens if not hundreds of different varieties that haven't
| been commercialized for every fruit or vegetable in the grocery
| store so there's a whole world of flavors and textures that
| most people haven't experienced.
| derethanhausen wrote:
| I think there's also a variety factor, heirlooms are usually
| very unique and fun-looking. But yes I think taste is generally
| good too. I'm growing heirloom Zucchini and Tomatoes this year.
| The tomato flavor certainly isn't bad, about on par with other
| good garden tomatoes. The zucchini on the other hand is out of
| this world good, and retains the flavor even when the fruits
| are large, unusual for most other Zuccs. (Variety is Costata
| Romanesco)
| seiferteric wrote:
| Currently have painted mountain, glass gem and then regular
| sweet corn. The painted mountain colors are really neat and it
| is okay to eat, but a firmer and not as sweet (obviously) as
| the sweet corn. The glass gem corn is not ready yet, but I hear
| it is good for popcorn so I will try that.
| Obi_Juan_Kenobi wrote:
| Most people grow sweet corn in their gardens, so they won't be
| growing these.
|
| There are heirloom sweet corn varieties, but they have to be
| cooked in minutes/hours from harvesting to remain sweet.
|
| As far as the starchy corn, you won't get a lot of flavor
| difference.
| blovescoffee wrote:
| There is flavor difference in the starchy corns as well as
| texture difference! Obviously they all taste like corn but
| there's certainly variation.
| sendfoods wrote:
| To my knowledge, zwieback is made from wheat, not corn. /s
| zwieback wrote:
| You are correct! Otherwise it would be more like a baked
| Tostito
| bluGill wrote:
| Corn is a hot season grass: it likes growing in large fields
| with lots of other corn plans near it. Most home gardens are
| not large enough to grow good corn (you can grow it, but the
| corn will not do as well - this can still be good enough.) With
| sweet corn time from field table is critical to good flavor, so
| people do grow it in their garden anyway, but it would be
| better to live next door to a large corn farm that you get it
| from.
| [deleted]
| Scoundreller wrote:
| Does it like having actual corn around it, or just lots of
| "stuff" around it to trap in heat that a fenced/walled area
| could serve as a substitute for? (obvs problem is that the
| fence doesn't grow with it...)
| Rustwerks wrote:
| Corn will not pollinate correctly if it is not in a rather
| dense clump. If you grow it in your garden you should plant
| 3 or more rows(or a square/circle). Otherwise you will get
| mostly empty cobs.
| bluGill wrote:
| Good question, but I don't know.
|
| I'd guessing lots of other warm season grasses which need
| not be corn. Most gardens grow many things that are not
| warm season grass. That is plants that don't grow very
| tall.
| civilitty wrote:
| Corn is wind pollinated and having a lot of plants around
| decreases the chance of self-pollination and increases the
| chance of outbreeding enhancement.
| reydequeso wrote:
| I think they taste better than the grocery store varieties but
| usually it is more difficult growing them, and they have a
| lower yield than industrial varieties.
|
| There are also general quirks with growing them. Experience
| lends me to suggest that heirlooms are more immediately
| sensitive to the environment that convention varieties. Buying
| from baker creek who are out in the Midwest, Seeds are going to
| have a different response in the growing in the SE Atlantic
| region, that response seems more pronounced although I have no
| idea of how to quantify it.
|
| Ultimately I think it is worth it, it is fun, and it taps into
| more of the holistic aspects of gardening. For example,
| learning how to make quesadillas because your heirloom corn
| gets infected with corn smut, so instead of an infection you
| have a product.
|
| That kind of frame-shift i think goes into the nostalgia of
| Doing It How We Used To.
| returningfory2 wrote:
| The article indirectly references the company Masienda
| (https://masienda.com). A lot of the restaurants in the US using
| heirloom corn (including every restaurant in the article) are
| getting it in part through Masienda. But Masienda also sell masa
| direct to consumer and I highly recommend it!
| Syzygies wrote:
| For a parallel effort to save heirloom beans, see Rancho Gordo.
| They sell online and in stores; their bean club sometimes has
| an 11,000 place waitlist.
|
| https://www.ranchogordo.com/
|
| Yes, Masienda rocks, and making one's own masa from homemade
| nixtamal is extraordinary. Many of us learned the idea of using
| an Indian wet grinder from "Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart
| of Mexico", where Bricia Lopez recommends the Premier Small
| Wonder Table Top Wet Grinder that I have used for years. It
| takes 40 minutes of scraping every now and then, adding water
| to yield a too-wet masa one dries with a bit of masa harina.
|
| A dramatic improvement comes by instead using a chocolate
| refiner based on the same unit, with custom hardware. My
| favorite hardware store puzzle: Who else has my problem? Home
| chocolate makers are famously particular.
|
| https://www.melangers.com/products/premier-chocolate-refiner...
|
| Masienda sells a tabletop "Molinito" masa grinder. I've eaten
| tortillas at a restaurant that uses this grinder, and I was not
| impressed. It could be that they chose a coarser texture to
| impress on their customers that this was artisan food! However,
| the original method of hand grinding masa took time. An Indian
| wet grinder more closely replicates this process than any "one
| and done" mill.
| reaperman wrote:
| Otherwise typical midwestern kid, for some reason I've always
| hated beans - especially refried beans but also black beans,
| pinto beans, etc.
|
| Rancho Gordo beans are transformatively good - I absolutely
| love them as long as they're not criminally overcooked. I
| still hate other normal beans from the supermarkets.
|
| They're really _THAT_ good. Highly recommend them to anyone.
| beepbooptheory wrote:
| This looks great. Even using regular ole Maseca, the jump in
| quality is huge compared to plain store bought.
| elsonrodriguez wrote:
| There was a corn variety that was semi-recently discovered to
| have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria which provides
| nitrogen to the corn plant, thus eliminating the need to use
| nitrogen fertilizer. It's currently in development to be
| commercialized, and I'm sure some geneticists are already trying
| to splice other crops to gain the same ability.
|
| There is a rich diversity of crops around the world that need
| examination, you never know what you'll find.
| mohaine wrote:
| This really isn't a new idea as this is how most legumes get
| their nitrogen. It is new to find it naturally in corn (a
| grass) but the idea of moving this from legumes to grasses has
| long been a dream.
|
| The video of the natural form of this showed what appeared to
| be some very wet slime that was fully exposed to the open air.
| I'm guessing extra water requirements to keep this mass wet for
| the bacteria would be prohibitive at modern farming scales.
| sendfoods wrote:
| BBC did a pretty good video [0] about it. Haven't really heard
| much about it since. Must be extremely exciting for scientists,
| as (to my understanding) this kind of self-fertilization is
| completely unheard of!
|
| [0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=CFyd-kC6IUw
| zdragnar wrote:
| > this kind of self-fertilization is completely unheard of!
|
| How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species that
| are already known? Some olives, plenty of legumes such as soy
| beans, clover and alfalfa all have symbiotic relationships
| with bacteria for this.
| RajT88 wrote:
| > How is this different from other nitrogen-fixing species
| that are already known?
|
| It does it in a radically different way - pulling bacteria
| up from the soil into weird drippy goo from roots dangling
| midair. The video and various articles aren't totally clear
| on this point, but it suggests it can pull _a lot_ more
| nitrogen out of the air than other known nitrogen fixing
| plants (which keep the bacteria underground on their
| roots).
| seunosewa wrote:
| And you still have to fertilise them with complementary
| nutrients and also nitrogen for the best yields.
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