Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize. It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be.[Herbst, Sharon, Food Lover's Companion, Third Edition, Pg. 165, Barrons Educational Series Inc, 2001]
Types
There are various types of cornmeal:
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Blue cornmeal is light blue or violet in color. It is ground from whole blue corn and has a sweet flavor. The cornmeal consists of dried corn kernels that have been ground into a fine or medium texture.
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Steel-ground yellow cornmeal, which is common mostly in the United States, has the husk and Cereal germ of the maize seed almost completely removed. It will remain fresh for about a year if stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
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Stone-ground cornmeal retains some of the hull and germ, lending a little more flavor and nutrition to recipes. It is more perishable, but will store longer if refrigerated. However, it too can have a shelf life of many months if kept in a reasonably cool place.
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White cornmeal (mielie-meal), made from white corn, is more common in parts of Africa. It is also popular in the Southern United States for making cornbread.
Regional usage
Caribbean
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Cornmeal porridge - a popular meal served for breakfast in Jamaica and Southern Africa.
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Cou-cou - part of the national dish of Barbados, "cou-cou and flying fish".
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Funche - a typical breakfast in Puerto Rico cornmeal cooked with coconut milk, milk, raisins, butter, cloves, vanilla, ginger, sugar or honey and topped with fruit and cinnamon. There is also a savory funche made with cornmeal, coconut milk, chicken stock, sofrito and other ingredients. These are usually served with fish.
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Funchi also known as fungi/fungee - a cornmeal mush cooked and cooled into a stiff pudding, sometimes eaten with saltfish or Guyana Pepperpot. It is consumed on the islands of Curaçao, Saint Martin and is part of the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda.
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Mayi moulen - a cornmeal dish in Haiti often cooked with fish or spinach. Can be eaten with avocado.
East Asia
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Rolled corn porridge known as 糝糝飯 (Jin Chinese: or ) is far more common than millet porridge in Shanxi and Shaanxi due to their disparity of local production.
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Wo tou (窩頭) - Shaped like a hollow cone, this cornbread looks like a bird's nest, after which it is named. It is commonly eaten in northern China, and may contain dried and other flavoring agents.
Africa
Europe
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Arapash or harapash - Albania (similar to the Romanian style but often combined with lamb organs, or/and goat cheese)
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Farina di granturco - Italy (not the same as farina, which is made from wheat)
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G'omi (tr), mchadi (tr), tchvishtari - Georgia ( g'omi is similar to polenta, mchadi - cornbread, tshvishtari - cheese cornbread). Known by different names in local languages ( abysta, mamrys, juran-hudar, Nogai language: мамырза mamyrza, dzykka or сера sera), it is also widespread in other Caucasian cuisines.
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Indian Meal or Yellowmeal - Ireland
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Kachamak (качамак) - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia
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Mălai - Romania (the cornmeal itself; prepared as mămăligă)
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Polenta - southern Europe, especially North Italy
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Banosh - Ukraine (the dish prepared from cornmeal with added śmietana, topped with pork rind or mushrooms and bryndza etc. The dish is popular in the Carpathian region of western Ukraine)
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Kuymak - Turkey, especially in the northern parts around the Black Sea.
South America
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Fubá - Brazil.
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Masarepa - Soaked and cooked corn, ground fine into a flour, used in Colombia and Venezuela to make , almojábanas and .
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Polenta - a typical dish in many countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
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Karoe papa (cornmeal porridge, mais pap) - a staple meal served in Suriname as breakfast or dessert with vanilla and/or almond essence, cinnamon and nutmeg.
North America
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Masa or masa harina - Nixtamalized corn used for making and in Central America, Mexico, and South America.
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As a batter for a fried food, such as
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Made into bread, as in corn fritters, cornbread, Hushpuppy, , or spoonbread
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As breading for fried or baked foods, such as fried fish
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As a breakfast cereal ingredient
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Cheese curl-type snack foods, such as Cheetos and Cheezies
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In such as Fritos, but not or corn , which are made from nixtamalization maize flour
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Peameal bacon, back bacon rolled in cornmeal, known colloquially in the U.S. as 'Canadian bacon'
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As a release agent to prevent breads and pizza from sticking to their pans when baking
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As grits
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As a porridge, such as cornmeal mush, which is often then sliced and Grilling
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Known as "samp", it was used in colonial times as a kind of porridge.
South Asia
In parts of northern India and Pakistan ground corn flour is used to make thick slabs of bread which can be eaten with a wide variety of curry dishes or it can be coated in clarified butter or ghee and eaten with yogurt or lassi, a yogurt-based drink.
See also
External links
