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Search All NYTimes.com Dining & Wine WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS FASHION & STYLE DINING & WINE HOME & GARDEN WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS T MAGAZINE GLOBAL STYLE Enlarge This Image Librado Romero/The New York Times The dough, made from ground corn, is formed into tortillas there. Enlarge This Image Ruby Washington/The New York Times The Makings for Authentic Tortillas Ruby Washington/The New York Times EARTHY FLAVOR In Corona, Queens, Tortillería Nixtamal serves tortillas made from its own masa. By DAN SALTZSTEIN Published: July 21, 2009 IN Mexico, cooks have always believed that the best tortillas and tamales were made with masa — a dough made only of soaked and ground corn. There’s been no place to buy masa in New York, so even the best Mexican chefs use the dried and powdered version — called harina. “There’s no comparison,” said Zarela Martínez, owner of the restaurant Zarela in Midtown Manhattan. Sue Torres, the chef and owner at Sueños in Chelsea, makes fresh masa for her special dishes. “It has an earthier, more intense corn flavor than the corn flour,” Ms. Torres said. “It smells doughy and vibrant and brilliant.” It would be too much work, though, to make it for all the tortillas she prepares. Shauna Page and Fernando Ruiz searched over a decade for fresh masa in New York. In December the couple took matters into their own hands. On a side street in Corona, Queens, they opened Tortillería Nixtamal, apparently the only place in the city that makes and sells masa; it also sells fresh tortillas, tacos, tamales and other dishes. Irma Morales stops by every morning for tortillas, and occasionally masa for tamales and gorditas. She and her husband, Ricardo, originally from Mexico, have lived in Corona for 17 years. “After all these years,” Mr. Morales said, “this is the first time we’ve tasted the real stuff in New York.” Ms. Page and Mr. Ruiz admit that they are unlikely saviors for the masa-deprived. Neither is a cook by training (Mr. Ruiz is a New York City firefighter). Both were born in the United States, though Mr. Ruiz spent much of his childhood in Veracruz, Mexico. “We didn’t know what we were doing, to be quite honest with you,” said Mr. Ruiz, 37. Ms. Page, 35, agreed. “We’ve had several learning curves,” she said. The two have gotten help from Mr. Ruiz’s uncle, Pancho Manitas, who grew up in Veracruz, and Cecilia BolDovinos, a Mexican-born New Yorker who worked in a Advertise on NYTimes.com Go to Complete List » Next Article in Dining & Wine (5 of 20) » Sign up for a preview of the week in finance, sent every Monday. See Sample [email protected] Change E-mail Address | Privacy Policy Your Money E-Mail Sign up for a preview of the week in finance, sent every Monday. See Sample [email protected] Change E-mail Address | Privacy Policy Your Money E-Mail MOST POPULAR The Minimalist: 101 Simple Salads for the Season 1. The Puppy Diaries: Taking the Plunge With a New Dog 2. Maureen Dowd: Whirling Dervish Drivers 3. David Brooks: Liberal Suicide March 4. Home Burials Offer an Intimate Alternative 5. For High Line Visitors, Park Is a Railway Out of Manhattan 6. Driven to Distraction: U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving 7. Artists Find Backers as Labels Wane 8. News Analysis: Pinch of Reality Threatens the California Dream 9. Economic Scene: Challenge to Health Bill: Selling Reform 10. Control fate with witchcraft ALSO IN OPINION » Dangerous resentment Issey Miyake on Hiroshima ADVERTISEMENTS SIGN IN TO RECOMMEND E-MAIL SEND TO PHONE PRINT REPRINTS SHARE BLOGGED SEARCHED E-MAILED HOME PAGE TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS My Account Welcome, socolove Log Out Help Welcome to TimesPeople Get Started Recommend TimesPeople Lets You Share and Discover the Best of NYTimes.com 12:10 PM For Authentic Tortillas, a Queens Shop Beckons - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22masa.html?_r=... 1 of 3 7/22/09 12:11 PM
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Dining & WineWORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE
AUTOS
FASHION & STYLE DINING & WINE HOME & GARDEN WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS T MAGAZINE GLOBAL STYLE
Enlarge This Image
Librado Romero/The New York Times
The dough, made from ground corn,is formed into tortillas there.
Enlarge This Image
Ruby Washington/The New York Times
The Makings for Authentic Tortillas
Ruby Washington/The New York Times
EARTHY FLAVOR In Corona, Queens, Tortillería Nixtamal serves tortillas made from its own masa.
By DAN SALTZSTEINPublished: July 21, 2009
IN Mexico, cooks have always believed that the best tortillas and
tamales were made with masa — a dough made only of soaked and
ground corn. There’s been no place to buy masa in New York, so
even the best Mexican chefs use the dried and powdered version —
called harina.
“There’s no comparison,” said Zarela
Martínez, owner of the restaurant
Zarela in Midtown Manhattan.
Sue Torres, the chef and owner at
Sueños in Chelsea, makes fresh masa
for her special dishes. “It has an
earthier, more intense corn flavor than the corn flour,” Ms.
Torres said. “It smells doughy and vibrant and brilliant.” It
would be too much work, though, to make it for all the
tortillas she prepares.
Shauna Page and Fernando Ruiz searched over a decade
for fresh masa in New York. In December the couple took
matters into their own hands. On a side street in Corona,
Queens, they opened Tortillería Nixtamal, apparently the
only place in the city that makes and sells masa; it also
sells fresh tortillas, tacos, tamales and other dishes.
Irma Morales stops by every morning for tortillas, and
occasionally masa for tamales and gorditas. She and her
husband, Ricardo, originally from Mexico, have lived in
Corona for 17 years.
“After all these years,” Mr. Morales said, “this is the first
time we’ve tasted the real stuff in New York.”
Ms. Page and Mr. Ruiz admit that they are unlikely saviors for the masa-deprived.
Neither is a cook by training (Mr. Ruiz is a New York City firefighter). Both were born in
the United States, though Mr. Ruiz spent much of his childhood in Veracruz, Mexico.
“We didn’t know what we were doing, to be quite honest with you,” said Mr. Ruiz, 37. Ms.
Page, 35, agreed. “We’ve had several learning curves,” she said.
The two have gotten help from Mr. Ruiz’s uncle, Pancho Manitas, who grew up in
Veracruz, and Cecilia BolDovinos, a Mexican-born New Yorker who worked in a
Advertise on NYTimes.com
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For Authentic Tortillas, a Queens Shop Beckons - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22masa.html?_r=...
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tortillería in Michoacán.
Using machinery from Mexico, Mr. Ruiz and Ms. Page produce about a ton of masa every
three weeks, using kernels of a natural corn hybrid bred specifically for tortillas, grown in
Illinois.
In a big tub in the shop’s basement they boil the corn for about an hour in a solution of
calcium hydroxide — or slaked lime — that breaks down and loosens the hull, softening
the corn and making it easier to digest. (The Aztecs used limestone-rich lake-bed
sediment.) The corn is soaked in the liquid overnight, rinsed, then lifted up a corkscrew
conveyor into a grinder. The process is called nixtamalization. A fine grind becomes
tortilla dough; mixed with stock and lard, a coarser grind is used for tamales.
Though they have had a steady demand for their masa and tortillas, without the
economies of scale, their products are relatively expensive — $1.25 a pound for the masa,
which yields about a dozen tortillas, and $2.25 a pound for the tortillas made from the
masa (a pound is about 16). As of now, they use no preservatives, so the masa lasts for
only about two days.
The number of customers from the neighborhood has been growing, but the products
remain too expensive for area restaurants. “We’re doing something for the locals,” Mr.
Ruiz said of his Mexican-American neighbors, and he added that he’s struck by how
many non-Mexicans show up on weekends.
It’s not unusual, he said, for their narrow street to be lined with Zipcars, whose drivers
have heard about the shop on various food-related Web sites.
During a recent visit to Nixtamal, Ms. Martínez said she was impressed with the
operation, but added that the couple didn’t quite have it figured out.
“Their main problem is uniformity,” Ms. Martínez said. “They haven’t gotten the form
exactly down.” She said the lime mixture didn’t seem quite right, but she liked the masa’s
texture. She said she would like to buy from them regularly but goes through too many
tortillas for it to make economic sense.
Ignacio Carballido, an owner of Casa Mezcal, a Mexican restaurant and cultural center
that is set to open soon on the Lower East Side, said he hopes to buy Nixtamal masa for
tortillas.
Mr. Ruiz acknowledged that they are still fiddling with the production process, and with
their business plan — do they focus on the fresh masa and tortillas or the house-made
food?
Since they opened, at 104-05 47th Avenue, they’ve made tortillas using a machine on
display behind their windows. By March they had tamales and tacos, using pork from a
local Italian butcher. (While Corona has become a predominantly Mexican area, many
Italians remain.) They even offered a sausage-and-pepper tamale to draw in Italian-
American locals. It hasn’t worked.
Despite all these challenges, the couple have supporters. As she was leaving, Ms.
Martínez expressed her thanks. (Ms. Martínez estimates that 70 percent of the queries on
her Web site are about where to get masa or how to make it.)
“I’ve been waiting for this,” she said.
Ms. Page smiled and said, “Well, we’ve arrived.”
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