1
Stage 1 of 3
nextamalli
Nahuatl · pre-1500s
"lime-treated corn dough"
combined nextli 'ashes/lime' and tamalli 'dough', describing corn soaked in lime water
2
Stage 2 of 3
nixtamal
Spanish · 1500s-1600s
"corn kernels treated with lime and ready for grinding"
adopted into Mexican Spanish for the traditional corn-processing method
3
Stage 3 of 3
nixtamalization
English · 1950s
"the process of soaking corn in an alkaline solution before grinding"
adopted into English food science to describe the ancient corn-processing technique
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