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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



on the metate since nearly every one who can 

 afford it takes her nixtamal (prepared maize) to 

 the mill, and those who cannot afford to pay the 

 milling charge of 2i^ a kilo of masa usually cannot 

 afford to purchase a handmill. There are very 

 few handmills in Quiroga as compared with the 

 ranches where there are no molinos de nixtamal 

 even for those who could afford to have their 

 nixtamal ground. Those who cannot afford to 

 pay the milling charges make a virtue of necessity 

 and claim that tortillas made from masa ground in 

 the mills have an inferior flavor to those prepared 

 from masa ground on a metate. Some men even 

 go so far as to claim that they can distinguish 

 between tortillas prepared in their homes and 

 tortillas made by other women. Possibly there 

 is some truth to these claims. At any rate, in 

 many communities where molinos de nixtamal 

 exist, there are a number of families who could 

 afford to patronize the mills but who do not do so. 

 Furthermore, many young brides do not dare 

 patronize the molino until they have proved to 

 then' husbands that they are adept with the 

 metate and mano. However, there is less of this 

 in Quiroga than in most Michoacdn communities 

 since the first molino de nixtamal (powered by a 

 steam engine) was established in 1906. This 

 was one of the first in Michoacdn. The present 

 Torres mill grew out of one that was established 

 in 1909 (run by gas pobre). A few of the well-to- 

 do families who like their tortillas but who do not 

 like the masa produced by the mills hire womea 

 (molenderas) to come in daily and grind on 

 metates. There are eight of such women in 

 Quiroga who charge the equivalent of about 3.2fS 

 a kilo of masa. 



The mills are termed molinos de nixtamal 

 because they do not grind dry maize but a specially 

 prepared form known as nixtamal. In the evening 

 a woman will select as much dry shelled maize as 

 is needed for the next day's tortillas. In a 

 family of four or five individuals who eat no 

 wheat bread this will amount to 3 to 8 liters. 

 The kernels are rinsed and placed in a special 

 olla, enough water is poured in to cover the maize, 

 and lime is added. The amount of lime used 

 varies with the individual. It is this lime, or 

 rather the wood-ash lye which formerly was 

 used, which gives rise to the name. In the 

 Mexicano language nextli is ash and the ash or 



lye water in which the maize is placed is termed 

 nexatle. The Tarascan terminology is nearly 

 the same and nixtamal becomes apu, from apo 

 (ash) . The olla (nixcomil) with the limewater and 

 maize is placed on the fire where it remains from 

 15 minutes to }i hour, being constantly watched 

 and stirred so that the water does not boil. 

 Boiling is thought to give an unpleasant taste. 

 When testing shows that the sheU or outer skin 

 of the maize will come off easily, the olla is removed 

 from the fire, enough hot water is added to com- 

 pletely cover the plumped or swollen maize, and 

 it is allowed to stand overnight. The next morn- 

 ing the maize kernels are rinsed several times to 

 remove most of the lime, and then the nixtamal is 

 ready for grinding. It is commonly computed 

 that 1 liter or 0.7 kg. of ordinary dry maize 

 (neither recently harvested nor quite dry and 

 attacked by arthropods) will produce 1.25 kilo of 

 masa or tzirere. Even though the masa is run 

 through the mill a second time most housewives 

 give it a third grinding at home to remove all 

 lumps. Then it is ready to be patted into tor- 

 tillas (the Mexicano is tlaxcal, and the Tarascan is 

 curinda) and cooked on the terra-cotta or metal 

 sheet {comal or erox) which is placed over the fire. 

 The diameter, thickness, and weight of the 

 tortilla depend on the tastes and wealth of the 

 family. One liter of dry maize or 1 .25 kilo of masa 

 will produce from 8 to 42 tortillas which weigh 

 from 200 gm. down to 33.5 gm. each. For 

 domestic use the tortillas commonly range from 

 5 to 8 inches in diameter and weigh between 34 

 and 42 gm. The professional tortilla makers 

 (tortilleras) who sell tortillas at the cooked-food 

 booths or puestos usually get 42 thin tortillas 

 from a liter of maize, and these tortillas were 

 selling at 3 for 5^ in 1945. During most of 1945 

 maize sold for $21 a fanega {hectolitro or 100 

 liters), 90ji a cuarteron of 4 liters, and 22|zf to 23ji 

 a liter. 



BUTCHERING 



Next in importance after the breadstuff indus- 

 tries are the slaughtering of livestock and the 

 selling of meats. As has been mentioned earlier, 

 aU oxen are slaughtered in the municipal abasto or 

 rastro under strict fiscal inspection. The sanitary 

 inspection required by law is restricted to the 

 rejection of only the most obviously diseased 



