For Wendy Lopez, chef and partner at Reyes Mezcareria in Downtown Northern Orlando, Masa, a heirloom from the small Hanger Street Tacos storefront in Winter Park, brought the flavor of her hometown, Michoacan, to the tortillas and, by extension, to the table, a major change in the two years since her inauguration.
“The aroma, texture, taste, everything. It’s different from before and day.”
Her’s is one of the few restaurants that benefited from Masa’s journey on Hunger Street, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago. At the time, heavy white bags of corn, jewel-colored corn, imported from Mexico, filled the small order space in front of Hanger Street, and in the kitchen, a small, one-horsepower mill began grinding the flour.
In December, owner Joseph Creech, wife Sadie Creech, brother David Creech and Hanger Street’s first employee, Christian Ziegler, who also serves as COO and CFO, will open a 2,500-square-foot production facility at 301 Rider Lane in Casselberry, delivering wholesale masas and tortillas to waiting list customers and new customers. Then he joined the fight.
My name is Masamall.
The name is a mashed up of masa and amor (love), a classic Mexican dish.
Also known as “more.” Just like the rest.
It makes perfect sense as a small circle of intellectuals outside Hanger Street loves this product as much as the staff themselves.
“Tortillas have always been a passion, so that was a dream for me,” says Joseph Creech. “But it’s also a family business.”
This means everything to my wife, who runs around 40 tortillas in Mexico City. Until two years ago, my grandmother was one of them.
“Every tortilla starts with memories,” says Sadie Creech. “At Masamol, I carry on my Abuela Rafa tradition of hand-nisthamarising corn, not just to make food, but to honor the generation who taught us that true nutrition comes from tradition, patience and love.”
Her husband became engrossed in Sentinels in 2020 when the first shipment of corn, a produce from a family that has been farming for generations across Mexico, arrived at a shop in Winter Park.
Participating in the “Masa Movement” where popular local street taco shops grow
Now he’s been nerds for about five years, and Creech credits Lopez with the knowledge and expertise they’ve accumulated. Lopez’s feedback helped them shape the process, and made a dramatic improvement on Masa.
It’s been a long learning process, but the taste of masa and the nutrition it brings has been around for thousands of years.
Nistamarisation is the process of boiling dried grains with alkaline sodium hydroxide (“literally minerals found in lime”) that break down the hardest parts of corn, imparting calcium and changing pH. “This naturally preserves the corn, so there’s no need to introduce anything to keep it fresh.”
Before Hanger Street made its own tortillas, like many other taquerias and restaurants, it used tortillas, a daily necessity that was first developed in the Industrial Revolution.
“The US was involved in the production of corn and tortillas in Mexico, completely eliminating the process of nistamarisation. They removed it and also removed the nutritional value. It was in the 1950s, and their only goal was mass production.”
He says people liked it because the process took a few days in just an hour. This also led to the explosive popularity of Mama and Pop Tortilia.
“But it was completely destroyed in terms of their nutrition,” he says. “The taste has also gone down.”
Lopez, whose tasting menu at Reyes, says it contains a variety of masas made from raw materials here from corn grown throughout Mexico, and the difference in flavor is surprising.
“Tasting heirloom corn makes you feel like you’ve been eating most of your life in cardboard boxes.”
Jason Campbell said with the opening of the Math Mall, Orlando’s Mexican food menu is about to level it up, just like what he made at Thornton Park hotspots in June. The same goes for the entire cooking scene.
Using corn and is passionate about the incredible Mexican-style menu in June | Review
“It was a relief for us,” Campbell said. His team receives a morning masa drop, which becomes a tortilla with each evening rush. Thanks to Creech’s encyclopedia knowledge, the server here can cite the longitude and latitude of the farm where the corn is fed, he said.
“It’s also a great opportunity for chefs to show off their creativity and think, ‘What else can we do with this?'”
Reyes gets fresh masas ranging from 90 to 120 pounds a day. Black Rooster Taqueria, recommended by the Michelin Guide, is also one of the converts. Maya Grill, a customer within Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, shows Masamall’s interest in the core of the business that was first planted (not to mention the vast potential for growth).
“That’s difficult, but as you can see at Old Haas Bread Company, that’s our goal: being a provider at that level… Ultimately, we’re going to provide it directly to consumers as well.”
Corn is a well-known foundation in Mexico. “Sin maíz no hay país” (without corn there is no country) is a dazzling saying that makes you realize its deep importance. Masa has a soul that contrasts with marketability.
“The first tortillas always stick,” says Lopez. She literally means that.
“Comal needs to be seasoned and must be hot enough,” she explains. “It’s a test run.”
However, the tortillas she made as a child in Michoacan state, which she also tasted as a child, is her first memory of food.
“The smell of making tortillas… I always remember that moment. It’s a central taste to remember.”
The first tortilla always sticks to it. Masamor hopes to create such a moment in the city at the end of the year.
Do you want to reach out to me? Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @amydroo, or on our OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. If you want to enjoy more, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
