How to Process Corn into Tortillas
Corn meal is too brittle to be fashioned into tortillas. The following is the method used in Mexico during the last century.
* Mix ½ cup of lime with ½ gallon of water.
* Place one gallon of dry corn kernels in a large pot and add the limewater until the corn was completely covered.
* Place the pot onto a fire and bring the corn/water to a boil. Slowly cook the corn for approximately 30 minutes until the outer skin is soft enough to peel off.
* Take the pot off the stove. Add more limewater to completely cover the corn. Set the pot aside overnight.
* In the next morning, drain the limewater from the pot and rinse the corn with clean water.
* Coarse grind the corn in a hand grain grinder.
* Take the ground dry paste and add water.
* Regrind the moistened paste in the hand grain grinder set to fine grind.
* Take the fine paste and shape them into balls about half the size of an egg.
* Use a tortilla presser to make flat tortillas.
* Fry the tortillas on a fry pan. No oil is required.
In the aftermath of a large comet impact, processing corn into food is extremely important. Tortilla is one of these products. Corn muffins or corn bread is a second product. Popcorn may be a third. Since the process of making tortillas requires the use of lime, I have decided to include a discussion on lime. The lime (calcium oxide) used in this process might be obtained in several ways.
One source of lime is Pickling Lime that may be purchased in grocery stores. This lime is food grade but may contain salts and anti-caking agents.
In an emergency situation, lime is a common building material. It is used in cement construction and can be bought in large bags at a building supply store. Ag-lime can also be found in fertilizer stores. These types of lime are coarser. They are an industrial grade. In addition to lime, it may contain some heavy metals, some combustion byproducts, and some fly ash.
Lime is manufactured from limestone. The method used to manufacture lime in the small villages in Mexico during the last century is as follows:
* Dried cow dung was collected and placed on the ground to form a circle.
* A layer of limestone was placed over the layer of dung.
* Another layer of cow dung was collected and placed over the limestone.
* Another layer of limestone was placed over the dung.
* This process was repeated until a large mound was formed.
* This mound was set on fire.
* The limestone would heat up until it was white hot.
* The stones were collected and placed in a burlap bag.
* Cold water was poured over the burlap bag, and the hot rocks would explode into a fine powder of lime.
(Other types of fuel, such as wood, could be used to manufacture lime)