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Date: | Fri, 31 May 2002 14:20:18 -0500 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Amadeus Schmidt" <[log in to unmask]>
> Niacin in maize (and millet) isn't available without a special treatment
Hominy (aka Nixtamal) it's called, made by soaking/boiling dried, shelled
corn in either lye water (wood ashes + water) or lime water (calcium
carbonate). I seem to remember the latter method is the more traditional.
(???) The kernels swell and the indigestible hull is rubbed/squeezed off,
leaving the endosperm and germ. And the product is dried again. I have the
exact procedures and proportions at home if there are any *neolith* recipe
buffs here. <g> Masa Harina, used for tortillas and tamales, is the corn
flour that is refined from the Hominy/nixtamal. It is *NOT* the
degerminated Aunt Jemima corn meal/corn bread so many of us Southerners grew
up on.
Pellagra is the disease caused by heavy consumption of corn that is not
processed. Nasty business, as Amadeus indicates. I really have to marvel
how the the native North, Central, and South Americans figured out this
nutritional problem and strategy to overcome it so many thousands of years
ago.
Theola
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