<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
At 03:02 AM 6/27/96 GMT, Ted <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
>Arrowroot and cornstarch are interchangable and do the same thing, there is
>no real advantage by using arrowroot except if you are allergic. Arrowroot
>might be slightly easier to digest.
 
That isn't quite true. I have been collecting article on arrowroot,
including ones that have been posted here in the past, and ones from a
thread that is ongoing in rec.food.cooking. I am still collecting articles
for it, but if anybody wants the whole thing then e-mail me and I'll sent it
all in a couple days.
 
The article that best describes the differences is the one below. I also
posted this one to this list last fall:
 
From: Len S <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 27 Nov 95 03:59:07 -0500
 
     In his book "Minimax Cookbook", Kerr says that both arrowroot and
cornstarch are pure starches.  He prefers them to flour for thickening
liquids.
     He recommends arrowroot for dark hot sauces because of its
clarity and its lack of taste that might mask the food flavor.
Arrowroot is good, too, he says, for giving pasta a glaze when he
wants the pasta to have the look of oil on it.
     Arrowroot, however, has a drawback in that when it cools,
especially in contact with dairy foods, it develops an unusually
slippery feel. So for foods containing dairy products or crispy cooked
vegetables, he prefers cornstarch.
     Cornstarch, he continues, does cause a slightly misty film that
dulls the light reflection, but since this happens anyway in dairy
sauces and lighter colored casseroles that contain beans, it's not a
real loss.
     Another difference, according to Kerr, is that cornstarch
requires thirty seconds at the boil to remove its starchy taste, while
arrowroot clears in very hot liquid without the need to boil it.