Food Alphabet
Corn flour
Corn flour is obtained from different types of corn. At the same time, the best flour is considered to be that which is made from hard varieties of maize.
Ready-made corn flour is of two types: coarse and fine.
Cornmeal has been known since Aztec times and is used to make chips, tortillas, grainy bread, and porridge. Such bread and porridge have pronounced medicinal properties, which is why they are often on the lists of recommended products for obesity, tuberculosis and metabolic disorders.
In turn, fine corn flour is also used for baking bread, but rather to improve its taste and give it splendor, rather than to make it as healthy and nutritious as possible. This flour is mixed with wheat flour in the manufacture of cakes and pastries. (As a rule, products that include wheat flour are very soft and fluffy when fresh, but then they quickly become stale.) In addition, in the industry, fine corn flour is used as a binder in the production of sausages and beer.
Today, corn flour is very popular in many countries. In Mexico, it is still used for making flatbreads, in the Caucasus, Romania, and Moldova-for making porridge (hominy) from fine-ground corn flour, in Italy they also make porridge – polenta-but from coarse flour, in Africa-for making ugali (mashed corn flour), in Ukraine – for cooking banush (corn porridge seasoned with sour cream or cream), and in Uzbekistan-for making bulamik (corn porridge with meat).