Each seed is enclosed in an individual outer skin (the kernel) which contains the endosperm (the meat of the kernel) and the germ (where a lot of the nutrition is). The cycle of a person's life is thought to resemble that of corn, from green youth to parched old age.Īn ear of corn is a giant seed pod peel back the husk and the silk and find the seeds. Corn is sacred in Native American culture. Visit the pueblos of New Mexico and watch for bunches of dried, multi-colored corn hanging in kitchens to protect the houses and bless their inhabitants. Subscribe to the Vegetarian Journal A-Maize-Ing Endings with Corn By Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD VRG > Vegetarian Journal > 2000 July > A-Maize-Ing Endings with Corn Don't forget to prepare the dried corn before this process by soaking it in water overnight.Vegan Seafood: Beyond the Fish Shtick for Vegetarians I do the boil-and-wash thing twice to make sure they're good and soft and all the pieces of husk are off. To make hominy with baking soda, use proportions of 2 to 1 water to dried corn, and use 2 tablespoons of baking soda for every quart of water. The effect of an alkaline solution is to break down the cell wall in the cells of the dried corn (since those cell walls of plant cells are soluble in an alkaline solution), which makes the corn kernals soft and the husks loose so you can remove them. People, people people! If you don't have slaked lime, or don't want to burn your arms off with slaked lime, then just substitute BAKING SODA.Īll you need to make hominy is an alkaline solution, which you can make by mixing any alkaline powder (like baking soda, quicklime or slaked lime - or "cal" in Spanish) in boiling water. This is in line with times for cooking whole wheat berries. This website at least recommends cooking the corn in a slow cooker for 10 hours. The only single reference I was able to find online for boiling popcorn was to make parrot food. I have never heard of boiling popcorn and was intrigued that said that she had seen it. In this case the starches are mechanically liberated for our polenta or cornbread enjoyment. Popcorn can be ground into a course corn meal. Boiling popcorn might partially rehydrate the interior starches but it won't soften or remove the hull. The hull is made out of cellulose and is indigestible to humans and insoluble in water unless treated with inedible amounts of acid (or acetone). When the popcorn is heated the steam inside the kernel forces the hull to shatter- releasing the steamed starches which instantly solidify in the air. Popcorn is unique in that the hull is freakishly thick and not porous. Manageable in the sense that it can be ground to release the starches. Sweet corn has a soft hull and much more sugar in the endosperm- It is eaten as whole kernels.įlour corn has a couple delicious starches in the endosperm and a manageable hull. Incidentally- it is the only type that I ever saw for sale in Germany which might explain why all the Germans I met thought we were crazy for eating corn on the cob. These types vary slightly in their composition but they share a similar basic structure:ĭent corn is used almost exclusively as animal feed.
There are four main types of corn: dent, sweet, flour, and popcorn.