Why this Salt Lake City Mexican restaurant relies on an ancient cooking method
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Blue corn kernels being prepared for masa. Courtesy: House of Corn
At his Salt Lake City Mexican restaurant, owner and chef Armando Guerrero uses an ancient process to create the foundation for most dishes.
State of play: Formerly located in Sandy, Guerrero reopened House of Corn in March at the former Even Stevens sandwich shop off 400 East and 200 S.
- The restaurant's draw is their handmade corn tortillas.
How it works: Nixtamalization is a cooking method to make masa, also known as corn dough, by cooking kernels in water and calcium hydroxide.
- After the kernels are done steeping, they become soft enough to be ground and shaped into vessels for a variety of dishes, including tacos, tamales, sopes, huaraches and more.
- The process dates back over 3,5000 years ago to Mesoamerica.
- The cooking method is tedious and anything can go wrong if the ratios are off, according to Guerrero, but the labor results in a more delectable and nutritious tortilla.
The big picture: Corn is the pillar of Mexican cuisine, but many restaurants rely on store-bought tortillas that are so processed they can sit on the shelves for months, Guerrero noted.
- He uses three white, blue and red corn kernels and lives by the Mexican proverb, "sin maíz, no hay país," which translates to "without corn, there's no country."
- Making tortillas from scratch is becoming a lost art even in Mexico, where many residents frequent tortilla shops, or tortillerías, said Guerrero, who hails from the Mexican state of Morelos.
Yes, but: Mexican chefs across the U.S. are reviving the practice.
Flashback: Guerrero moved to the U.S. to attend BYU-Idaho in 2019 and noticed the lack of authentic Mexican cuisine.
- "The majority of Mexican food made in America isn't really Mexican. It's Tex-Mex," he told Axios.
- That's when he started making his tortillas, which quickly became a hit among his friends.
- The first-time restaurateur opened House of Corn in 2020, but it closed last year due to low foot traffic.
The bottom line: A handmade tortilla elevates any Mexican dish, and it's fresh air to see a restaurant go back to the basics.