Maize Lunch: Hands-on Corn Grinding

Corn, turned by people from wild plant to tended crop nearly 9,000 years ago, is one of the oldest domesticated plants in the Americas and continues to be given a special place in the culture of New Mexico. Artifacts of corn grinding—including stone manos and metates—are a common archaeological find across the US Southwest and stone grinding implements are still widely used in our region’s kitchens today. Honors students still often eat ground corn in a variety of forms from the masa in tamales to the breading of corn dogs and local museums, including UNM’s own Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, often display manos and metates. This Honors week students have a hands-on opportunity to grind corn for themselves using traditional tools and sample a portion of their production in a traditional recipe. Join Honors Professor Troy Lovata for a chance to grind corn and find out how hard or easy it is to turn maize into lunch.