Long before the rise of the Roman Empire, the Mayans were carving roads and erecting massive stone edifices on the Yucatán Peninsula. Somewhere between 1500 and 1200 BC, Mesoamerican people discovered nixtamalization, or boiling dried corn kernels in alkaline water with calcium hydroxide derived from ash. The process rendered corn far more digestible, unlocking previously unobtainable nutrients and creating a foodstuff that fueled empires. By 1000 BC, dough made from nixtamalized corn was being formed into tamales and other staples.“It was very difficult to tell the story of corn in…
