298 



INDIAN COEN. 



European demand, not the result of famine, but of popular appreci- 

 ation of this cheap and wholesome staple. 



The prejudice existing against the use of maize as an article of 

 human food, among certain classes of people, is surprising, and this 

 prejudice is based on ignorance. It is seldom found in Irish or 

 English kitchens, although millions of bushels are exported to 

 England every year. The people there are strangers to those New 

 England luxuries, corn bread and puddings, and we suppose it will be 

 a long time before they will know anything of them. 



Indian corn is one of the most important and healthful articles of 

 human food that a beneficent Providence has bestowed upon man ; and 

 to its high nutritive value is due in a large degree the strength and 

 vigour of the race of men who laid the foundations of the great 

 American republic. It was much more largely used fifty or one 

 hundred years ago than now, as fine wheat flour, for some not well- 

 founded reason, has usurped its place in bread-making. In the 

 several forms, however, of hulled corn, popped corn, hominy samp, 

 corn starch, maizena, &c., vast quantities are consumed by all classes 

 of people in America. 



Meal from Indian corn contains more than four times as much 

 oleaginous matter as wheat flour, more starch, and nearly as much 

 nitrogenous material ; consequently in all cold climates it is admir- 

 ably adapted to sustain the system by furnishing heat-forming com- 

 pounds. The oil gives warmth, the nitrogenous principle gives 

 muscular strength. The combination of alimentary compounds in 

 Indian corn renders it alone the mixed diet capable of sustaining 

 man under the most extraordinary circumstances. It holds the 

 elementary principles which constitute the basis of organic life. In 

 this particular it is more remarkable than any other vegetable pro- 

 duction known to man. There is a large number of dislies of which 

 corn meal forms the basis, which are exceedingly palatable. What, 

 for instance, is more delicious than cold corn-pudding, cut in slices 

 and fried in sweet butter or lard ? Hot corn-cakes, when properly 

 and skilfully made, are almost universally regarded as a luxury, and 

 Boston brown bread is famous everywhere in the country. The reason 

 why corn meal is not more largely used at the present time is that it 

 is quite difficult to obtain it of dealers or grocers in a perfectly pure 

 and sweet state. Millers grind the corn as it comes from the West, 

 mixed with portions of the cob and saturated with dust and dirt, and 

 this is sold for kitchen as well as for stable use. Much of the 

 western corn is damaged in transportation, and this is ground up with 

 that which is sound. If good, sweet, northern corn is properly ground in 

 an old-fashioned stone mill, after being winnowed to free it from dust, 

 a meal will result of a rich golden colour, and no dish can be pre- 

 pared from it which will not be palatable and most nutritious. 



Maize flour, even of the finest quality, cannot be baked alone into 

 bread. It ferments like other flour, but the dough falls in the oven, 

 and gives a compact, soap-like loaf, which could not be eaten daily. 

 A certain quantity of some other substance must be mixed with it to 

 make a good bread — a third part of wheat, rye, or potato fecula is 

 sufficient for this purpose. 



