Comments on: Lime http://www.word-detective.com/2013/02/lime/ Semper Ubi Sub Ubi Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:32:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Bevan http://www.word-detective.com/2013/02/lime/comment-page-1/#comment-55881 Bevan Wed, 27 Feb 2013 05:48:47 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=8564#comment-55881 "In food preparation, slaked lime is used as a calcium supplement, in pickling, and, here ya go, to make the corn meal flour in tortillas stick together better." I think this analysis is a bit off the mark. Slaked lime is used to treat maize (north america's "corn") into the "masa" or "hominy" that is used to actually make tortillas (also grits) and turns out to be a key in making many of the nutrients of maize actually digestable. I've never heard of it being used to make the dough stickier or that even being considered as a benefit, and I live within a lime-sack's throw of several torilla factories (Los Angeles). Yes, it's wikipedia, but this article isn't terrible and has some overview of the use of lime in nixtamalization (now -that's- a word!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy “In food preparation, slaked lime is used as a calcium supplement, in pickling, and, here ya go, to make the corn meal flour in tortillas stick together better.”

I think this analysis is a bit off the mark. Slaked lime is used to treat maize (north america’s “corn”) into the “masa” or “hominy” that is used to actually make tortillas (also grits) and turns out to be a key in making many of the nutrients of maize actually digestable. I’ve never heard of it being used to make the dough stickier or that even being considered as a benefit, and I live within a lime-sack’s throw of several torilla factories (Los Angeles).

Yes, it’s wikipedia, but this article isn’t terrible and has some overview of the use of lime in nixtamalization (now -that’s- a word!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy

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