Masienda works with over 2,000 farmers across Mexico to bring heirloom corn to kitchens and restaurants around the world. By teaming up with farmers like Juan Velasco Meza, the supplier has helped preserve both the heirloom seeds and the traditional process of nixtamalizing corn, which enhances its flavor and nutritional value. Masienda distributes to world-renowned restaurants like Cosme in NYC, where the corn is transformed into fresh, house-made tortillas, memelas, and more.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Mexico is literally the birthplace of corn, and so there's about 59 heirloom varieties
00:08in Mexico.
00:09Varietals that have been in families and communities for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
00:13Those 59 sort of breeds make up everything that we see across the world.
00:19I was so curious to see what the rest tasted like, how to kind of understand the nuances
00:24in between each one, and how to share that story with chefs.
00:54Corn is, it's just a way of life in Mexico in a very different way.
01:25These are farmer-selected varietals, so varietals that have been in families and communities
01:30for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
01:34I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
01:37farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
01:41been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
01:45for them.
01:54So, you know, it's just a way of life, you know, in a very different way, and so there's
01:55about 59 varieties in Mexico.
01:56I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
01:57farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
01:58been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
01:59for them.
02:00I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:01farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:02been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:03for them.
02:04I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:05farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:24been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:25for them.
02:26I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:27farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:28been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:29for them.
02:30I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:31farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:32been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:33for them.
02:34I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:35farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:36been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:37for them.
02:38I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:39farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:40been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:41for them.
02:42I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:43farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:44been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:45for them.
02:46I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:47farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:48been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:49for them.
02:50I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:51farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:52been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:53for them.
02:54I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:55farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
02:56been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
02:57for them.
02:58I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, you know, are there
02:59farmers who are still growing these 59 varieties, and they're like, of course, like we've actually
03:00been struggling trying to find people who are interested in, you know, creating a market
03:01for them.
03:02I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, and they're like,
03:03of course, like we've actually been struggling trying to find people who are interested in,
03:04you know, creating a market for them.
03:05I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, and they're like,
03:06of course, like we've actually been struggling trying to find people who are interested
03:07in, you know, creating a market for them.
03:08I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, and they're like,
03:09of course, like we've actually been struggling trying to find people who are interested
03:10in, you know, creating a market for them.
03:11I started working with a kind of a group of seed breeders in Mexico, and they're like,
03:12of course, like we've actually been struggling trying to find people who are interested in,
03:26you know, creating a market for them.
03:36In heirloom corn you get a lot more diversity of flavor, you get a lot of nuance.
03:41in hybrid corn, or like a GMO hybrid corn,
03:44you are selecting one thing,
03:45and usually that one thing is like yield.
03:48You're typically breeding for security.
03:50We are doing it at the expense of things
03:51like flavor for our nutrition.
03:54Farmers who are throughout Mexico
03:55have maintained these traditions
03:57to really preserve the full expression
03:59of what one heirloom varietal is.
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05:00When you're working with a staple
05:01as sacred as corn in Mexico,
05:03which is a subsistence crop,
05:05it was very important to us
05:06that not only enough corn was being left
05:08within each family household,
05:10but also communities.
05:11It was just, if you have a surplus.
05:14From there, we've been able to really understand
05:16how to scale that,
05:18not at the expense of communities or farmers,
05:20but involve as many producers as possible.
05:23We worked with about 12 producers our first year,
05:25and we work with about 2,000 producers today
05:27across six states.
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06:07I had my hands full with just trying to figure out
06:10how to create a supply chain around this product in Mexico
06:13that had never been kind of commercialized in this way.
06:16Like, how do you even get a pallet of corn
06:19from one place to another when there are no pallets?
06:23The first couple years,
06:24we're just trying to figure those things out,
06:25and Ivan was really the linchpin
06:27within the first community we started in
06:29to begin communicating with people
06:31that this was an option.
06:32I mean, and the way he did that was just genius.
06:35Indigenous radio stations,
06:36loudspeakers on top of, you know,
06:38pizza delivery cars in different languages,
06:41you know, all to benefit the community,
06:43but really coming from within.
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07:11This has been done in some form or fashion
07:13throughout Mexico for millennia.
07:15Corn on its own doesn't have a ton of nutrition,
07:17but when you take it through this miximalization process,
07:20which is basically just cooking corn in alkaline water,
07:23which helps break down the cell walls of the corn,
07:26it becomes incredibly nutritious.
07:28It fortifies the corn with calcium,
07:30unlocks the naturally occurring amino acids
07:33and proteins and things like that
07:34that make it a very nutritious superfood.
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08:04First varietal I ever tasted, I taste carrots,
08:07I taste butternut squash.
08:08He's like, yeah, there's beta-carotene in it.
08:10Typically, these are things that are bred out of corn
08:13at a commercial level because they're thinking about other things.
08:16It kind of blew my mind, and then I just,
08:18I was so curious to see what the rest tasted like.
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09:52I worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for an apprenticeship,
09:56and it was there that I kind of got my first exposure
09:59to this concept of what we now call regenerative agriculture.
10:03And I grew up with one parent who was born in Mexico,
10:05and then when I looked at foods that I grew up eating,
10:07I just didn't see very much of that
10:09being expressed in that conversation.
10:12How could we position, you know,
10:15foods I was rooted to and connected to
10:17so that it also benefited from this changing conversation?
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10:54Our bolita azul from Hacienda.
10:57Everything starts with corn.
10:59Very fruity kind of smell out of this corn,
11:01which I think goes amazing with the dish
11:03that we're going to make today.
11:05This is our bolita azul.
11:06It was already mixed up with ice.
11:08This is our mill.
11:09It was built in Mexico.
11:11These are stones made out of volcanic rock.
11:15Actually, my dad picked out these rocks,
11:17and he shipped them to us.
11:20The molino is a very temperamental machine, if you will.
11:24We deal with stones.
11:26You have to learn how to listen to the mill,
11:28feel how your mass is coming out.
11:31For me, I find it therapeutic at this point.
11:33You know, like, I've grinded masa in this molino so many times.
11:36It starts with this.
11:38If we don't have masa, then the day can't go right.
11:41I had met Enrique at this sort of event
11:43that was going on at Blue Hill.
11:45I read that he was going to open up Cosme.
11:47Would you like to buy these tortillas made from heirloom corn from Mexico?
11:50And he's like, we're good on that,
11:52but we will definitely take your corn
11:54if you're able to get that in time for the opening.
11:56I mean, like, I was delivering this personally
11:58in a two-door, like, Volkswagen Golf,
12:00but they were our first customer.
12:02Helping them build a kitchen around an ingredient
12:05was really important to what they were doing.
12:09This is soft.
12:11It's not sticky, you know.
12:13The tortilla ladies are the ultimate judge.
12:36We're going to go ahead and fry our memelas.
12:39I started working with Chef Enrique back in 2012.
12:43I remember back then Cosme was just kind of like a dream,
12:46kind of like a kitchen conversation.
12:48Ever since I walk into this place, I know it was special.
12:51They're called garlics.
12:53It's a mix between garlics and leeks.
12:56And then I'm going to mix them with a kimchi pizza has miso,
12:59chile guajillo,
13:01it has chile de árbol,
13:03and apple vinegar.
13:06For our memela, gruyere cheese.
13:09This is my favorite cheese when I was growing up.
13:12And then we have queso Oaxaca.
13:16It's your classic string cheese from Mexico.
13:24Knowing how much time and how much history
13:26and how much culture is in this,
13:28being able to bring it to a city like New York
13:30and let people from all over the world experience it,
13:32that's what makes me excited for sure.
13:35There were just so many different foods and staples
13:38that once they were touched and influenced by a chef
13:41would have a different relationship on shelf.
13:43Tortillas were just like this afterthought.
13:45Chips are free, tortillas are free.
13:47This was the first time that a tortilla was literally being,
13:50people were charging for this.
13:52The Cosmes of the world had started to change
13:54what we thought about the value of Mexican food.
13:58The life of a peasant is difficult.
14:01It's good that today there are people
14:03who still live in the countryside.
14:05Without the countryside, I don't think they would have anything to eat, honestly.
14:10We need someone to defend what is ours.
14:14And that our Creole corn,
14:16that they don't get lost, that they continue to be maintained
14:18from generation to generation.
14:27Create. Share. Learn.