Grits And Cornmeal -- Is Nixtamalization The Key?

If you look closely at a bag of grits, you may find the words "hominy grits" or "hominy" somewhere on it.  If you've run into hominy before, you might remember it's made from corn (Zea mays, called maize by a lot of the rest of the world), but a lot of people don't run into hominy directly these days.  While I see the words on bags of grits, I've not personally run into a bag of cornmeal that said it was made from hominy or otherwise treated corn, as far as I can remember.  So I think that corn grits are usually made from hominy — "nixtamalized" corn — while cornmeal isn't.  If anyone can refute that, I'd like to hear from them.  

(For what it's worth, a couple other notes:  Masa flours are also generally made from nixtamalized corn as far as I know.  Cornstarch is just the starch separated out from the rest of the corn, and is way different from cornmeal: it's more like cake flour than anything.)

Anyway, the usual difference between corn grits and cornmeal seems to be the difference between hominy and corn: the aforementioned nixtamalization.  Nixtamalization's important role is in preventing pellagra.  Pellagra is a nutritional deficiency disease that can show up when folks eat a lot of non-nixtamalized corn and not much else, and therefore don't get enough niacin and/or lysine in their diet.  Nowadays, deficiency diseases in most of the U.S. aren't so common as they used to be, and pellagra is rare.  But it used to be all too common in the poor rural parts of the Southern United States, and other areas where folks had to eat too much untreated corn.  

Basically, traditional nixtamalization is the treatment of a grain (usually corn) with a wet alkaline solution.  The mineral lime is typically used; calcium carbonate (which also occurs in chalk) is the beneficial chemical here.  Treating corn with lime does a bunch of things, including helping to get off the hard shell around the outside of a kernel of corn.  In some ways, nixtamalization makes corn less nutritious: it actually degrades the protein content of the grain.  I assume removing the hull also decreases the amount of fiber available in the corn; you can discuss among yourselves whether that increases or decreases its nutritional character.  :)  Nixtamalization also has other positive benefits, and its traditional use kept its users healthier.

The important part here is that when the lime solution is changing the nutritional profile of corn, it's increasing the amount of niacin available to you when you eat the corn.  It's also changing the amino acid balance in the corn: less protein is available overall, but the ratio of amino acids in that protein is closer to what humans need for health.  Corn still isn't a "complete protein" after nixtamalization, but it's closer, and it becomes easier to supplement with, say, beans or meat to get to what a human needs for protein.  But again, pellagra is rare around here these days. 

 In practical use, I've certainly made acceptable gruels out of both grits and cornmeal.  I've also made crappy food out of grits, cornmeal, polenta flour, and so on.  Certainly the product makes a big difference in flavor, texture, and presentation.  I've always assumed that was just because of crappy products.  There are a handful (8 or less, I think) of North Carolina grist mills out there producing corn meals of various types: white or yellow, leavened or no, and specialty mixes like hushpuppy and cornbread mix and various breading mixes.  I can usually find a brand of one of those I like.  I've used the Quaker brand cornmeal in baked cornbread and thought it was horrid, but I use Quaker Brand quick grits and am happy with it.  I don't think one needs to buy cornmeal packaged as "polenta flour" to make polenta: for one thing, it tends to be more expensive.  The key thing in all these pure corn products seems to be getting the grind, texture, color, and flavor you want.  

As always, your input is appreciated.  :)

Comments

[Phil]

"Pellagra" in song, by Tom Lehrer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHlZ-p5TGWA

[Dogfood Provider]

FYI - The notion of needing a "complete protein" is passe. According to the American Dietetic Association,

Protein is found in most plant foods as well as animal foods. Your body will make its own complete protein if a variety of foods and enough calories are eaten during the day.

http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6374

You don't need to combine specific foods to get the right combination of proteins or amino acids. http://www.mypyramid.gov/tips_resources/vegetarian_diets.html

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_combining

//threadjack

[georg]

In a brief and highly unscientific survey of local grocery stores before T-giving, I found that almost all the cornmeal available is white. The only yellow I could find was the Quaker cardboard tube. This is pretty much the reverse of what you find when you're buying in large (industrial/commercial production) amounts, where it's all yellow and white cornmeal is hard to find and more expensive. I've used the Quaker before and not found it memorably horrible. OTOH I don't remember it being especially good either.

[TSQ75]

I'm perpetually confused by this.

I keep coarse ground yellow cornmeal on hand for all my cornmeal needs...and I also prepare it as polenta.

when i venture into the grit realm, i find that its essentially coarse ground white cornmeal?

and in the end (to me) they look the same, prepare the same, but taste distinctly different from one another....they are distinctly polenta and grits respectively....bah

oh well

[Joe Eater]

I have a number of follow-up comments here, but before this post goes too far down the list, I have some grocery stores and their cornmeal status. FWIW, most of these stores are on or near the Ethnic Grocery Trail:

Target at TAFKASS: just Quaker (yellow, I think).

Compare in Forest Hills: cornmeal (and masa harina &c) in like 3 different places. They did have a yellow one, but not from North Carolina.

Food World in Hayti at Heritage Square: pleanty of cornmeal, including a North Carolina yellow one.

Compare on Avondale: Again, you have to look in several different places, but there are several brands, including a yellow one from North Carolina. Larger store with better selection than the Forest Hills store.

Food Lion at Oxford Commons: lots of cornmeal, including a number of North Carolina products: yellow, white, leavened or not, breaders and hushpuppy mixes....