Sobre Masa

A Return to Indigenous Mexican Cooking in New York City

"At Sobre Masa in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I found chefs Zack Wangeman and Jesus Perea deeply focused on corn culture and masa: they source corn from producers in Mexico, nixtamalize it in-house, and refuse to take shortcuts. They buy mole from Teotitlán del Valle because the right ingredients are difficult to source in New York City, and they’ve run fundraisers with Fundación Tortilla to preserve old popping corn seeds. The menu mixes familiar and unfamiliar items—tlacoyos filled with faba bean purée seasoned with avocado leaf, empanadas of mole amarillo, and for dinner molotes and mole negro—while the chefs actively aim to educate the public about Indigenous cuisine." - Marisel Salazar