How Oro by Nixta Makes Heirloom Corn Chochoyotes | Eater Twin Cities

"I found Oro by Nixta to be a striking extension of Nixta’s masa work: their chochoyotes aren’t the usual golden dumplings but a brooding violet-slate made from purple Peruvian potatoes and blue corn masa (a cónico azul from Jocotitlán), and when Chef Gustavo Romero—sometimes working by hand with his mother, Teresa Veytia Avila—fries them the starches pull to the exterior to form a craggy shell; they arrive in a pool of earthy salsa de venas, and the kitchen turns out about 80 to 90 orders a week. The full-service menu expands Nixta’s masa focus with empanada-like molotes, stout gorditas stuffed with chicharrón and avocado salsa, a blue corn tamale as big as a brick stuffed with wild boar and crowned with a bright mole de frutas, and a tlayuda broad as a sun hat loaded with beans, beef salpicón, and tatemada salsa; more than just a Mexican menu, Oro foregrounds heirloom, nixtamalized corn to explore corn’s flavors, history, and the politics tied to its trade and preservation." - Justine Jones