José Vasconcelos at the table

The Mexican meal does not follow the starter-main-dessert sequence. At the heart of the day, the main comida unfolds in sequence: first corn antojitos (tamales, tlacoyos), then a festive plato fuerte like mole, all accompanied by hot tortillas as bread and utensils. Around it revolve aguas frescas and atoles (drinks), bastimentos for travel based on toasted corn, and street food from markets. Nixtamalized corn is the invisible foundation that connects all these functions, from the humblest daily meal to the banquet.

A millennia-old Mesoamerican technique: corn is cooked in water with lime (cal), which loosens the grain's skin, releases its niacin, and allows it to be ground into masa. It is the soul of the cuisine that Vasconcelos wanted to rehabilitate as national pride — the bread of the mestizo people he exalted in *La Raza Cósmica*.