Many people still eat it every day.
It is the tortilla, the flat disk of corn that is a basic element of the Mexican diet. The basic procedure for making tortillas is to mix one part mature corn kernels with two parts water in which approximately 1 percent lime is dissolved. The mixture is heated until the thin skin of the kernels can be broken loose between one's fingers. Cold water is added to stop the heating process, and the mixture is allowed to settle overnight. The following day the soft kernels, now called nixtamal, are lifted by hand out of the receptacle and put into a new one, where the remaining liquid is drained off.