23PRIMERAs you crank the
creaky handle of a
molino de mano,
the hand-operated
grinder seen on the left,
a flurry of ground corn
cascades out the front
and a gust of air rushes
by. It’s half the satis-
faction of making your
own masa, an essential
building block in much
of Mexico’s cuisine.
The other half? Con-
suming it. While you
can buy instant masa
mix at most supermar-
kets, fresh masa has
an unparalleled sweet-
ness and richness, as
if you’d melted a pat of
butter onto summer
corn and transformed
it into a dough that
could be griddled,
fried, or steamed.
I learned how to
make it from Gonzalo
Guzmán, my coauthor
of the Mexican-focused
Nopalito cookbook,
out this April. Guzmán
grew up on fresh masa
in Mexico and now
uses 300 pounds a day
at his two Nopalito
restaurants in San
Francisco. His three-
step, old-school
process is the key to
crisp empanadas,
fluffy tortillas, and
tender tamales.This page: Corn tamales
with tomatillo salsa
(see pg. 25 for recipe).
Opposite: The only
essential tool for making
masa from scratch is
a molino de mano. We
love the sturdiness (and
pop of color) of those
made by Estrella. $49;
gourmetsleuth.com