Corn: Corn as Food

Throughout American history there has been wide diversity in the methods of preparation and use of corn as food. Native Americans parched corn by roasting it in ashes until the kernels were brown and then pounded the kernels into flour or processed the kernels with lye water (prepared from ashes or lime) to remove the hulls for whole hominy, which is easier to grind. Parched corn would keep indefinitely and could be mixed with hot or cold water. In the Southwest the most common process was to boil the corn in lime solution before grinding the grain into a fine masa (corn flour).