Video
From Maíz to Masa
On December 9, 2023, BFI and Berkeley Student Farms hosted a Masa Workshop to learn from community knowledge how to process corn into masa for pupusas and tortillas. This video documents the traditional method.
In December 2023, the Berkeley Food Institute hosted a workshop at Cloyne Court at UC Berkeley to process an estimated 80 pounds of heirloom corn into masa to make pupusas. The maíz was grown, harvested, and de-grained a few blocks away at the Oxford Tract by volunteers from Berkeley Student Farms and BFI staff.
To make this workshop possible, Indigenous Permaculture, a network of urban farms and community members throughout San Francisco’s Mission District, connected us with Morena and Domingo to teach us the traditional methods to make masa, using a metate to work the dough. Morena then treated us to fresh pupusas filled with monterey jack cheese and loroco, chorizo, and refried beans. She brought her homemade curtido and salsa to top them off.
This workshop and video aim to document the ancestral process shared with us by Morena and Domingo, and reconnect our student and staff community with this ancient foodway.
The workshop was organized by ab banks, BFI’s Agroecology and Wellness Coordinator, and Nathalie Muñoz, BFI’s Community Engagement Program Manager, in partnership with Berkeley Student Farms. This video was filmed by Austin Price, BFI’s Communications Coordinator, and edited by Melissa Cervantes, BFI’s Development Assistant.