What has not changed much over the centuries is how corn is cooked. Native Americans, for whom corn had and has immense religious, culinary and cultural significance, have always cultivated corn, beans and squash together; they also cook them together in the same pot with a pinch of ashes, a combination that, consciously or not, shows excellent nutritional sense. The other vegetables contribute two essential amino acids that corn lacks, and the alkaline ash frees the vitamin niacin in the corn, which is otherwise chemically inaccessible to us. Native Americans also boil dried corn in alkaline water, let it sit overnight, then wash and skin the kernels. The resulting tender nuggets are called hominy and are used as a vegetable or ground into a dough known as masa, from which tortillas and tamales (steamed dumplings) are made. Dried, pulverized masa is called masa harina and is sold at local gourmet supermarkets. Corn : fresh and dried
The main types of corn grown around the world today are flint corn, dent corn, popcorn, flour corn and sweetcorn. Popcorn kernels have hard skins that resist expansion when heated, until the internal steam pressure builds up so high that the kernel explodes into the much-beloved fluffy snacks. Flint corn too is hard-hulled and has a long shelf life, and like dent corn mostly goes into industrial or processed food products and animal feed, though it is also a staple starch for Native Americans and Africans. Flour corn is the type most easily milled into meal and flour.
Swweetcorn ears and kernels are familiar vegetables to most of us, as is baby sweetcorn about 8cm long, tender enough to be eaten whole. In Southeast Asia , its sugariness is sometimes capitalized on for desserts such as ice cream or pudding. Sweertcorn kernels can be bought frozen, canned in salted and sugared water, or canned 'cream-style' in a starch-thickened corn puree. Deep-fried into crunchy morsels, they make a snack popular in Latin America, the Philippines and Vietnam .
Cornmeal is whole dried white or yellow corn ground to a fine, coarse or medium texture. Cornmeal labeled 'stoneground' is the most nutritious as the grinding process preserves some of the vitamin-containing germ and hull, but it is the most perishable.
Polenta is a medium-ground cornmeal that has been a staple carbohydrate for most of northern Italy since the 1600s. It takes about 45 minutes of stirring by hand to make this delicious lava-thick yellow porridge, during which one inevitably incurs 'polenta burns' from the spluttering mixture - the widely available 'instant' polenta greatly reduces both preparation time and injury. Polenta may be served hot and soft, or left to cool and set in a tray and then cut into thick wedges to grill, fry or bake. Blue cornmeal can sometimes be found at health-food shops; it makes breads and puddings of purple hue and strong, nutty corn flavour.
Cornstarch is a fine white powder ground from the starchy portion of the corn kernel, used as a thickener and coating for fried foods. In Europe it is called 'cornflour', which is not to be confused with American 'corn flour', the finest grade of ground whole corn.
See also About Corn.
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