On Apr 2, 1:35?pm, "Wayne Lundberg" >
wrote:
> Tequesquite is the rock-salt
> remnants from the Texcoco lake as it has been evaporating for thousands of
> years. It looks like sugar candy, semi transparent, crumbly chunks. Contains
> tons of minerals among them salt and soda which is the key element to making
> any decent tamale or cornmeal delight like the Michoacan Corundae (sp?).

Hmmm. Didn't somebody mention "tequesquite" in here just last week? It
would be easier to just use table salt and baking powder.

Another chemical that is frequently mentioned is the
slaked lime that is used to nixtamalize corn in order to make masa.

Slaked lime was also known in the Mediterranean world. In Djudeo-
Espanyol (Ladino), slaked lime is called "kal" and it was used to
white wash houses.