In a few days i will be attempting my first pozole. i asked for Nixtamal at
a Latino grocery in NYC & was shown 1 pound bags of dry large corn kernels.
i bought two & since the one recipe i had was rather skimpy on details, i
looked up other recipes on the web. one of them reads as follows in
Spanish:

Se prepara el nixtamal con maíz ancho blanco o de color que son los menos
duros y
revientan mejor; es aconsejable remojar el maíz un día o dos antes de
prepararlo, cambiando el agua a diario. Al cocerlo se le agrega cal
desbaratada y se deja hervir tapado hasta que espese; se enfría y se
enjuaga bien restregando para quitarle el hollejo y descabezar los granos.

Which i translate as something like:

Nixtamal is prepared with broad white or colored corn that is the least hard
and explodes better; it is advisable to soak the corn one or two days before
preparing it, changing the water daily. While cooking it, crushed lime is
added and it should be left to boil covered until it (the lime?) is used up;
refrigerate & place it in water while scrubbing it well to get rid of the
hulls & remove the head from the grain.

It then goes on to say that after that it needs to be boiled for four hours.

Have i got this more or less right so far? It doesn't quite make sense. In
other words, two cookings, one to get rid of the lime, then cool & soak &
dehull, and then cook again??

But my main question is, where do i get the lime, specified as three
tablespoons full (per pound?) ? ? ?

Also, my wife adds, isn't lime a poison?

Any light you can shed would be appreciated.

very best to all!

alex

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 04:52:58 GMT, "Alexander Gross"
> wrote:

>In a few days i will be attempting my first pozole.

>But my main question is, where do i get the lime, specified as three
>tablespoons full (per pound?) ? ? ?
>
>Also, my wife adds, isn't lime a poison?

Check he

http://motherearthnews.com/index.php...rticle&id=2042

and click on the 'recipe' link in the right-hand column where it says
"Make Masa: 'Nixtamalize' Your Corn" The recipe includes "1/4 cup
pickling lime (food-grade calcium hydroxide)"

I have seen a lot of fresh limes in the stores lately. They should not
be hard to find now.
Gram

Alexander Gross wrote:

> In a few days i will be attempting my first pozole. i asked for Nixtamal at
> a Latino grocery in NYC & was shown 1 pound bags of dry large corn kernels.
> i bought two & since the one recipe i had was rather skimpy on details, i
> looked up other recipes on the web. one of them reads as follows in
> Spanish:
>
> Se prepara el nixtamal con maíz ancho blanco o de color que son los menos
> duros y
> revientan mejor; es aconsejable remojar el maíz un día o dos antes de
> prepararlo, cambiando el agua a diario. Al cocerlo se le agrega cal
> desbaratada y se deja hervir tapado hasta que espese; se enfría y se
> enjuaga bien restregando para quitarle el hollejo y descabezar los granos.
>
> Which i translate as something like:
>
> Nixtamal is prepared with broad white or colored corn that is the least hard
> and explodes better; it is advisable to soak the corn one or two days before
> preparing it, changing the water daily. While cooking it, crushed lime is
> added and it should be left to boil covered until it (the lime?) is used up;
> refrigerate & place it in water while scrubbing it well to get rid of the
> hulls & remove the head from the grain.
>
> It then goes on to say that after that it needs to be boiled for four hours.
>
> Have i got this more or less right so far? It doesn't quite make sense. In
> other words, two cookings, one to get rid of the lime, then cool & soak &
> dehull, and then cook again??
>
> But my main question is, where do i get the lime, specified as three
> tablespoons full (per pound?) ? ? ?
>
> Also, my wife adds, isn't lime a poison?
>
> Any light you can shed would be appreciated.
>
> very best to all!
>
> alex
>
>
>

Grams wrote:
> I have seen a lot of fresh limes in the stores lately. They should not
> be hard to find now.
> Gram

Different type of lime. Mineral.


jim

Thanks, Frogleg, that's fairly helpful, it at least makes sense of what i
thought i was reading in Spanish. i've now located two different brands of
"cooking lime" available over the web, now i just have to figure out where i
can walk out in the middle of this nyc wilderness & find it in a store.

Thanks again!

alex

"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 04:52:58 GMT, "Alexander Gross"
> > wrote:
>
> >In a few days i will be attempting my first pozole.
>
> >But my main question is, where do i get the lime, specified as three
> >tablespoons full (per pound?) ? ? ?
> >
> >Also, my wife adds, isn't lime a poison?
>
> Check he
>
> http://motherearthnews.com/index.php...rticle&id=2042
>
> and click on the 'recipe' link in the right-hand column where it says
> "Make Masa: 'Nixtamalize' Your Corn" The recipe includes "1/4 cup
> pickling lime (food-grade calcium hydroxide)"

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 05:41:13 GMT, "Alexander Gross"
> wrote:

>"Frogleg" > wrote

>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 04:52:58 GMT, "Alexander Gross"
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >In a few days i will be attempting my first pozole.
>>
>> >But my main question is, where do i get the lime, specified as three
>> >tablespoons full (per pound?) ? ? ?
>>
>> Check he
>>
>> http://motherearthnews.com/index.php...rticle&id=2042
>>
>> and click on the 'recipe' link in the right-hand column where it says
>> "Make Masa: 'Nixtamalize' Your Corn" The recipe includes "1/4 cup
>> pickling lime (food-grade calcium hydroxide)"

>Thanks, Frogleg, that's fairly helpful, it at least makes sense of what i
>thought i was reading in Spanish. i've now located two different brands of
>"cooking lime" available over the web, now i just have to figure out where i
>can walk out in the middle of this nyc wilderness & find it in a store.

Any store that has pickling/canning supplies and ingredients should
have it.

The article you quoted is talking about using calcium oxide (AKA quick
line) which is not exactly the same thing as calcium hydroxide (AKA
slaked lime or builders' lime). While either will do, the calcium
hydroxide is, in my opinion, the better choice. You can also buy it
at any building supple store where it may be called ‘cal.' Of course
the quantity is likely to be rather large for home cooking.

My question is why are you going to all this trouble to make hominy
when you can buy it in a can in any grocery store? Do you understand
that what you are making is just plain ole hominy?

For a look at pozole being made in a Mexican kitchen, go he
http://rollybrook.com/pozole.htm

No reason at all, now that i've read a lot more on the web and figured out
how all these stages of the grain fit together. when the senora at our
lower east side mercado told me that la cal does not exist outside of
Mexico, i realized that what i thought was unhulled corn had to be in fact
already hulled nixtamal. Finding the cans of hominy also helped. For my
first pozole, i will use two 29 ounce cans. The second time around a few
months from now i'll try cooking my two bags of corn. Either way should
work fine. Thanks for your message and your lovely pages on Mexico & its
cuisine, almost makes me want to try living there, but i'm 72 & have already
spent 12 years living in European countries, so after registering with
Italian, Spanish, German, & English police & immigration bureaus, don't
think i want to try my luck with the Mexicans.

thanks again & best wishes,

alex

ps--in return for your pages, you can find the story of some of my foreign
adventures at various places on my web site at:

http://language.home.sprynet.com


"Rolly" > wrote in message
om...
> The article you quoted is talking about using calcium oxide (AKA quick
> line) which is not exactly the same thing as calcium hydroxide (AKA
> slaked lime or builders' lime). While either will do, the calcium
> hydroxide is, in my opinion, the better choice. You can also buy it
> at any building supple store where it may be called 'cal.' Of course
> the quantity is likely to be rather large for home cooking.
>
> My question is why are you going to all this trouble to make hominy
> when you can buy it in a can in any grocery store? Do you understand
> that what you are making is just plain ole hominy?
>
> For a look at pozole being made in a Mexican kitchen, go he
> http://rollybrook.com/pozole.htm