masa (thing)

There used to be a writeup, a bit over 20 years old, by user bozon. It described “masa; or masa trigo” as a dough made from corn kernels to make tortillas. This writeup was written originally as a correction and update on it, but the powers that be have decided to remove it and were kind enough to let me know so as to amend my own writeup and avoid some embarrassment.

The Spanish word “masa” directly translates to “dough” mostly in the culinary sense. That’s it. “Masa” is the generic term for several things that will be cooked through some baking or frying or griddling (?) process; including cookies, cakes, bread and—of course—tortillas. It’s not restricted to the last one.

Generally speaking, that’s the way it’s usually understood from context in places—like Mexico—where tortillas and related products are consumed heavily. If I mention buying Maseca, it’s understood that I’m about to make tortillas, much in the same way it’s understood that I’m making soup if I mention “a can of Campbell’s.”

That doesn’t mean “masa” is used exclusively for tortillas. “Masa,” without context, can mean a number of somewhat similar, but ultimately different things. Repeat that to yourself.

Why make a fuss about it?

Among the many mistakes we can make, one of the most common ones is the taxonomist’s trap: thinking that knowing the name of a thing makes us know about the thing itself.

The distinction is subtle and can sneak in on us everywhere. Across cultures, this sometimes ends up as tourists and foreigners in general thinking they know something because they know the word for it. And this, believe it or not, is a small and traceable component in what some people call cultural (mis-)appropriation and condescending attitudes that reek of colonialism.

If you’re eating at a fonda—a traditional restaurant of sorts—you will hear the word “masa”, will see tortillas in front of you and can easily make the connection between the word and the food. But if you’re shopping in a bakery you will also hear the word, but this time associated to baguettes, pastries and other baked goods. Which is correct? The stereotypical gringo¹ will dismiss the nuances of language and instead cement the “masa=tortilla” connection; a more conscious traveler will expand the concept and learn a bit more about language and culture at the same time.

So, why make a fuss about it? When I went to London, I ate kebabs almost exclusively every night. Does that mean there’s no fish and chips anywhere in the city? Does the calm streets around the Barbican Centre reflect an easy-going and calm life in all of London?

We’re living in the most connected times of our species. While physical travel throughout the world is still mostly a privilege for the few, the internet is a great help to bridge lots of differences² of language, culture and distance among others.

This should be kept in mind when approaching other cultures, other countries, other languages than our own. It’s always been impossible to completely understand another, but the large availability of information should keep us humble and vigilant to the fact that knowing culture comes only with extensive experience and patience. First hand experiences are great and leave a mark on our memories, but they run the risk of being incomplete. I’d bet that more often than not, they will be.

Why then, this writeup? Mostly, to be a cautionary tale. Mistakes of language and culture can slip through one’s mind and that may lead to faux pas-es in the best of cases, and misappropriation in the worst.

Still think I’m being harsh? Consider that:

1. The term “masa trigo,”—that appeared in a now deleted writeup—while understandable, it’s not precisely what all Spanish speakers would use. My guess is that this is a machine-translated phrase, because the more “standard” term would be “masa [de] trigo”; and
2. The term “masa [de] trigo” translates to “wheat dough” and not “corn dough”; a fact that your nearest Spanish-English dictionary can attest. While both plants can be used to make flatbreads, their results are vastly different, to the extent that the products are known as “corn tortillas” and “flour tortillas.”³ “Masa [de] trigo” cannot possibly be made out of corn kernels.

Postscript

2021-01-05: it occurs to me that the term "batter" (as in, the liquid-y dough) also translates to "masa" even though in English it's a very different thing than simple dough.

1. Also a caricature of real life.

2. Sadly, it’s not sufficient for completely eliminating them.

3. In Spanish, “Tortillas de maíz” and “Tortillas de harina,” respectively. The name comes from the fact that the regular tortillas aren’t traditionally made with any “corn flour,” but with nixtamalized corn, which is most decidedly not a dry ingredient.