La Milpa de Rosa

At La Milpa de Rosa, they do chips, tortillas, and masa a new way: the old way. Their chips taste just-came-out-of-the-oven fresh. Not papery and bland like most brands. That’s because they use a traditional nixtamalization process to unite their fresh ingredients. And unlike the other guys, they protect the freshness of their flavors with real whole-grain corn and natural techniques, never processed radiated flour or artificial preservatives. If you’ve never had nixtamal tortillas and chips, you haven’t had the real deal. But don’t worry, it’s not your fault, and La Milpa makes it easy for you. 3,500 years ago Meso-American women would journey down to the lakebed to soak, soften and grind their corn against the soft limestone of the water’s edge. Suddenly, a huge discovery: The grinding process created a delicate powder of Calcium Hydroxide, also called “Cal Mexicana” or “Lime.” By immersing the corn in this powder before heating it, the corn was better able to absorb water, making it more flavorful and giving it a massive nutritional turbo-boost. The Aztec named this new superfood “Nixtamal.” There you go, now you can impress your friends with your knowledge of ancient history and food culture!