What's the difference between masa for tortillas and for tamales?

Question

I often buy fresh prepared masa from Mexican markets in order to make tamales and pupusas. Mexican cookbook authors stress getting the correct masa for the recipe, either masa for tamales or masa for tortillas. However, the masa at the market is in an unlabelled bag and is identified by the proprietor as just "masa". Questions:

1. is this more likely to be tamale or tortilla masa?

2. is there a real difference? What?

3. if there's a real difference, is there a way you can modify one type of masa into the other?

Clarifying: the above question is about fresh corn masa, not dried flour. Prepared masa, in particular, has at least oil and salt added to the fresh-ground corn.

Asked by FuzzyChef

Answer

I found a link that will provide the explanation you are looking for:

http://www.mymexicanrecipes.com/ingredients/masa-harina.html

Here is a direct quote from the site:

Masa is dried corn that has been cooked in limewater (cal), soaked overnight, and then ground up while still wet. Sold in this form, it's called fresh masa, and it makes the lightest, fluffiest tamales. In Mexico, it can be purchased at tortilla factories in two ways: with smooth consistency for making tortillas and, upon request (if you are lucky), with a coarser consistency for making tamales. (Be careful to differentiate between masa para tamales and masa preparada para tamales; the latter, available at some tortilla factories and large Mexican groceries, is the coarse-textured masa mixed with lard and flavorings.

Answered by Onepotmeals

Check more discussion of this question.