"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 15:11:17 GMT, Sonof Ravenson
wrote:

I let some ear's of corn (white kernal sweet corn) in my garden get
too starchy and dry. I've cut the ears from the stalks, removed the
husks and am now drying them on wire mesh in the sun. Don't know
whether it qualifies as the "field corn" generally associated with
making nixtamal for hominy and masa, but that's my plan for the
kernals once they're dry. Any reason why it won't work...?

Here's some additional information on making nixtamal:


If you were truly to begin from scratch, you'd get some white corn grain
and set it to low boil in a covered pot with some slaked lime or
wood ashes. This process will loosen the "skins" (pericarp) of
the kernels, and you'd find most of these skins floating at the
top of the steep liquor next morning. Also, the alkaline solution
has the side effect of making bound niacin in the corn endosperm
soluble, and therefore available as a nutrient (this is important
to folks who depend on corn as their staple source of nutrients; in Mexico
annual per capita consumption of tortillas is about 410 lb., or as you can
see, a little over 1 lb. per day, and in rural areas it is estimated that
tortillas provide about 70% of the caloric intake). You would discard the
supernate and the steep liquor itself; then wash the remaining "naked"
kernels (consisting mostly of pure starch) and embryos ("germs," where
most of the oil is concentrated). However, if you wanted to avoid this
whole process and start from this point on, you could look for 'hominy' in
your local grocery store, since this is precisely what hominy is.

Next, you'd get hold of a grinding stone utensil (known in Mexico
as 'metate,') and you'd begin slaving over the corn grain with a pestle and
a jug of water by your side. In the course of grinding the grain
you're homogenizing and gelatinizing the starch, protein and germ,
and also somewhat dehydrating it; however, you must add water
continuously to make the resulting mixture pliable. When you are done,
you'll have a dough that you will work into small balls from which you'll
shape your tortillas.