Maize supply networks

The maize used to make tortillas includes native (white, blue, yellow and red or reddish) and hybrid (white) varieties. The native ones are produced locally through the milpa system in different communities of the municipality and other villages of the Oaxaca mixteca (^{Lazos, 2012}). The most common breeds in the region are Mixteco, Chalqueño and Cónico (^{Chávez and Diego, 2011}). On the other hand, hybrid varieties are produced outside the municipality, in the states of Sinaloa, Puebla, Guanajuato and Chiapas, through a production system based on monoculture and intensive use of agrochemicals. The grain is commercialized by companies that concentrate markets and distribution channels.

Palmeadoras prefer the native varieties that are usually obtained with local producers. These varieties can also be bought to regional distributors or cultivated in the own plot (Table 1). The same woman can resort to more than one source to make tortillas, depending on the time of the year. By doing so, palmeadoras actively participate in the exchange of different native varieties, a practice that contributes to the conservation of maize.

About two thirds (68 of 89) of palmeadoras use hybrid maize to make tortillas, particularly when native varieties are scarce: “when there is native maize, great, but when it is scarce, we have to grab the one that comes from outside” (Miguel A. Valle Bautista, personal communication, 2016). Hybrid maize is obtained from DICONSA and from private stores (Table 2). These stores offer a variety of prices depending on maize quality. The average cost is 5.70 $ kg^-1. Maize sold by DICONSA, subsidized by the federal government, sells at 5.00 $ kg^-1.

To sum up, palmeadoras are key actors in the circulation, use and conservation of the native maize varieties produced in the region. Women buy directly from producers or distributors, thus stimulating the creation of short market chains. However, the native varieties that women need to make tortillas are not always available in Tlaxiaco. Maize shortage forces palmeadoras so seek hybrid varieties, usually sold in private or State-owned stores.

Nixtamalization process

Nixtamalization involves cooking maize in an alkaline solution based on calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)₂ (limestone) that improves its sensory characteristics. Dough becomes malleable and its nutritional content increases (^{Bourges, 2013}). Traditional nixtamalization consists of four stages:

undesirable elements (chaff, crop residues, rotten or damaged maize, stones, foreign seeds) are removed; b) maize is placed in a vessel with water and lime and exposed to fire for 50-90 min; c) maize is let to rest between 14 and 18 h; d) water is removed and maize is washed two or three times, expanding approximately 45% with moisture (^{Paredes et al., 2009}).

The amount of lime is key for proper nixtamalization. If missing, maize becomes reddish (palmeadoras call it “chapulín”). If too much lime is used, the tortilla’s color and flavor are affected. The right amounts depend on the type of maize. Blue and red varieties are quickly “limed”: “blue maize is very delicate for lime, same as red” (Miguel A. Valle Bautista, personal communication, 2016). Both varieties have soft pericarp and easily absorb lime (^{Rimarachín et al., 2000}; ^{Fernández et al., 2013}), as opposed to the white and yellow ones that tolerate lime better (^{Rangel-Meza et al., 2004}).

Fire exposure allows maize to be nixtamalized and baked; maize should be cooked just enough to avoid dough deterioration. “When maize is raw, the tortilla gets seared and does not cook evenly” (Lucila Zárate Hernández, personal communication, 2017). On the other hand, “when maize is over -cooked, the dough does not look good” (Lucila Zárate Hernández, personal communication, 2017). Cooking time varies according to maize type: blues and reds must stay in the cooker for a maximum of 30 min, while yellows and whites last about an hour. Cooking process requires permanent monitoring.

Nixtamalized maize is let to cool down (^{Paredes et al., 2009}). Palmeadoras pointed out that hybrid maize must be removed from water immediately in order to prevent lime absortion: “hybrid maize is still in the fire [and] you have to get it out because... it gets uglily limed” (Juana Aguilar, personal communication, 2016). The same may happen with blue and red native varieties.

When nixtamal is ready it is necessary to grind it and make the tortillas shortly after in order to prevent the dough from losing consistency, especially with hybrid maize: “when... we do not rush to grind, sometimes the dough loses consistency” (Josefina Reyes Santiago, personal communication, 2016). One way to solve this problem is to add MASECA (commercial) flour, not a good option since the tortilla ceases to be handmade and its flavor becomes too close to the product of tortillerías.

To sum up, women use specialized knowledge when transforming the maize grain into food. Genetic improvement through hybridization does not take into account characteristics such as nixtamalization, hardness and dough adhesiveness, cooking time, softness, tortilla flavor and durability. Instead, it focuses on the external appearance of the grain (^{Rangel-Meza et al., 2004}; ^{Méndez-Montalvo et al., 2005}) . Gender-sensitive genetic improvement must enter into the kitchen and find out whether women really need such improvement. If so, efforts should be placed in reducing the duration and intensity of their work, rather than on the appearance of the grain.

Tortilla marketing

Table 3 shows the variety of tortillas that palmeadoras sell in the streets and markets of Tlaxiaco. Women distinguish even between maize seeds of the same color and the tortillas made with them: “you have to differentiate the yellow maize, there is a small one and there is a big one” (Ángela Hernández Hernández, personal communication, 2016). Special mention should be made of the tortillas that combine maize and wheat that the palmeadoras introduced into the market. “I was the first one... they sold very well and... they all started” (Flora Adelina Sánchez, personal communication, 2016). Others have diversified their production with totopos and picaditas. “There are ladies who... are dedicated to making... totopos. Those are made differently because you have to use a bit of lard” (Margarita Cruz González, personal communication, 2016).

The type of maize used responds to the preferences of the clientele. White tortilla “is the one that sells the most”, although “they also ask for the colored one, the blue one, the reddish one, the yellow one” (Miguel A. Valle Bautista, personal communication, 2015). Blue tortilla is particularly requested: “if I have blue tortilla, they ran out soon, people like them a lot” (Eva León Ortiz, personal communication, 2015).

Palmeadoras have attempted to standardize the size of the tortilla in order to ensure their earnings. With a larger tortilla “there is no profit, almost all of us have the same size” (Emilia Mendoza, personal communication, 2015). Other than that, each woman puts in the market a unique product, made with a personal touch, depending not only on the maize variety but also on the tortilla thickness. Some palmeadoras are famous for the quality of their product: “a little while and it’s all over, they want more, there’s no more, I tell them, just the ones I can carry” (Flora Adelina Sánchez, personal communication, 2016).

Palmeadoras sell their tortillas seven days a week, from dawn to dusk. They are placed in different times and locations in order to better distribute profits between them. They have also agreed to sell at the same price: seven tortillas for $10.00. Tortillerías selling the kg at $13.00 have proliferated and represent a risk for palmeadoras. “In our selling location a modern machine has been placed, and this has affected us a lot” (Petra Cruz González, personal communication, 2015). Some tortillerías distribute their product in motorcycles: “I used to sell up to $100... 150... when motorcycles began to deliver tortillas from house to house, sales went down” (Micaela Vázquez, personal communication, 2015). Palmeadoras have talked to municipal authorities in order to control the growth of tortillerías. The president agreed to regulate their working schedule, but nothing to that effect has happened.

To sum up, Tlaxiaco is between tradition and modernity, in the redefinition of the kind of society that it wants to become. The palmeadora job exemplifies this crossroad.

Tortillerías expansion can lead to the disappearance of a tradicional craft that uses and protects native maize varieties. It comes as no surprise that the gatekeepers of this product are indigenous women, one of the less visible groups in national definitions of public policy. Table 4 shows women’s opinions regarding the present and future of their trade: 80 consider that tortillerias represent a threat, 50 think that it is increasingly difficult to make tortillas with native maize varieties. An overwhelming majority adopts as their own the famous phrase “without maize there is no country”. The future of both their trade and the grain in a context so adverse to Mexican peasantry remains to be seen.