CORNMEAL

Cornmealoris made by grinding whole corn. The coarsest meal is called grits, which is used to make corn flakes. A somewhat finer grade is sold in stores to make cornbread, deep fry batter, and hushpuppies. Even more finely ground meal is calledorcorn cones, and is used for baking and for dusting pizza dough. The finest grade of ground corn is corn flour, used for pancakes, donuts, breading, and baby food. Another type of cornmeal is calledormasa flour, which is made byortreating cornorwith lime (alkalai). This releases the corns niacin into a form the body can use. The resulting whole corn is calledorhominy, and ground treated corn is dried and powdered to make masa flour, which is then used to make tortillas and tamales.