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Hominy
 
 
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Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize (corn)
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
 kernels which have been treated with an alkali
Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
.

The traditional U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 version involves soaking dried corn in lye
Lye

Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly, sodium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes....
-water (sodium hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide

Sodium hydroxide , also known as lye, caustic soda and sodium hydrate, is a caustic metallic Base . Sodium hydroxide forms a strong alkaline solution when dissolved in a solvent such as water, however, only the hydroxide ion is basic....
 or potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide is the inorganic compound with the formula potassiumhydroxide. Along with sodium hydroxide, this colourless solid is a prototypical "strong base"....
 solution), traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed. Mexican recipes describe a preparation process consisting primarily of cooking in lime-water (calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium2....
). In either case, the process is called nixtamalization
Nixtamalization

Nixtamalization typically refers to a process for the preparation of maize in which the grain is soaked and cooking in an alkaline solution, usually Lime water, and hulling....
, and removes the germ
Cereal germ

The germ of a cereal is the reproductive part that germinates to grow into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed....
 and the hard outer hull
Husk

Husk in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed....
 from the kernels
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
, making them more palatable, easier to digest
Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
, and easier to process
Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for ingestion by humans or animals either in the home or by the food industry....
.

Commercially available canned
Canning

File:Berthold Weiss Canned Foods.jpgFile:Canned food factory .jpgCanning is a method of food preservation in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container....
 hominy may have a slightly stronger scent when compared to the traditional preparation.

The earliest known usage of nixtamalization was in what is present-day Guatemala
Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
 around 1500–1200 BC.






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Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize (corn)
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
 kernels which have been treated with an alkali
Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a Base , Ionic compound salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal Chemical element. Alkalis are best known for being Base s that dissolve in water....
.

The traditional U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 version involves soaking dried corn in lye
Lye

Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly, sodium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes....
-water (sodium hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide

Sodium hydroxide , also known as lye, caustic soda and sodium hydrate, is a caustic metallic Base . Sodium hydroxide forms a strong alkaline solution when dissolved in a solvent such as water, however, only the hydroxide ion is basic....
 or potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide is the inorganic compound with the formula potassiumhydroxide. Along with sodium hydroxide, this colourless solid is a prototypical "strong base"....
 solution), traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed. Mexican recipes describe a preparation process consisting primarily of cooking in lime-water (calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, or pickling lime, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula Calcium2....
). In either case, the process is called nixtamalization
Nixtamalization

Nixtamalization typically refers to a process for the preparation of maize in which the grain is soaked and cooking in an alkaline solution, usually Lime water, and hulling....
, and removes the germ
Cereal germ

The germ of a cereal is the reproductive part that germinates to grow into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed....
 and the hard outer hull
Husk

Husk in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed....
 from the kernels
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
, making them more palatable, easier to digest
Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
, and easier to process
Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for ingestion by humans or animals either in the home or by the food industry....
.

Commercially available canned
Canning

File:Berthold Weiss Canned Foods.jpgFile:Canned food factory .jpgCanning is a method of food preservation in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container....
 hominy may have a slightly stronger scent when compared to the traditional preparation.

The earliest known usage of nixtamalization was in what is present-day Guatemala
Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
 around 1500–1200 BC. It affords several significant nutritional advantages over untreated maize products. It converts some of the niacin
Niacin

Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin which prevents the Nutrition disorder pellagra. It is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5NO2....
 (and possibly other B vitamins
B vitamins

The B vitamins are eight water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell metabolism. Historically, the B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, referred to as vitamin B ....
) into a form more absorbable by the body, improves the availability of the amino acids, and (at least in the lime
Agricultural lime

Agricultural lime, also called garden lime or liming , is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate....
-treated variant) supplements the calcium content, balancing maize's comparative excess of phosphorus
Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
.

Many Native American
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 cultures made hominy and integrated it into their diet. Cherokee
Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native Americans in the United States people orginally from the Southeastern United States . They are linguistically connected to speakers of the Iroquoian language....
s, for example, made hominy grits by soaking corn in lye and beating it with a kanona (corn beater). The grits were used to make a traditional hominy soup (called ???? ????, or Gv-No-He-Nv A-Ma-Gi-i), a hominy soup that was allowed to ferment (Gv-Wi Si-Da A-Ma-Gi-i), cornbread, dumplings (Di-Gu-Nv-i) or fried with bacon and green onions.

Some recipes using hominy include menudo
Menudo (soup)

The soup menudo is a traditional Mexican cuisine; a frequently spicy soup made with tripe. It is often thought of as a cure for a hangover, and is traditionally served on special occasions or with family....
 (a spicy tripe
Tripe

Tripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals....
 and hominy soup), pozole
Pozole

Pozole is a traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew from Mexico and New Mexico. It is made from hominy, with pork , chili pepper, and other seasonings and garnish, such as cabbage, lettuce, oregano, cilantro, radish, avocado, lime juice, etc....
 (a stew of hominy and pork, chicken, or other meat), hominy bread, hominy chili, casseroles and fried dishes. Hominy can be ground coarsely to make hominy grits
Grits

Grits is a Native Americans in the United States maize-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground maize. Grits can also be made from wheat....
, or into a fine mash (dough) to make masa
Masa

File:Nixtamal.jpgMasa is Spanish language for dough, but in Mexico it sometimes refers to cornmeal dough . It is used for making tortillas, tamales, pupusas, arepas and many other Latin American cuisine....
, the dough used to make tamales.

Rockihominy, a popular trail food in the 19th & early 20th centuries, is dried corn roasted to a golden brown, then ground to a very coarse meal, almost like hominy grits. Hominy can also be used as animal feed.

External links

  • The Mountain Laurel (2005). . Retrieved June 18 2005.
  • Ha-pah-shu-tse (2005). . Retrieved June 18 2005.
  • Native Way Cookbook , and .
  • wonderfulingredients.com