Cornstarch

“ FROZEN PUDDING 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon cornstarch 3 eggs 1 cup sugar 1⁄8 teaspoon salt 1 cup chopped mixed fruit
Scald milk in double boiler. Mix cornstarch with little cold milk; add beaten eggs, sugar and salt; mix well and add slowly to scalded milk, stirring until it thickens. Cool and add fruit, which has been put through food chopper. The fruit is a matter of taste. It may be 2 tablespoons raisins, 1 tablespoon citron, 1 tablespoon cherries, 1 tablespoon blanched almonds, 1 tablespoon candied pineapple and a few currants. Freeze, but not too stiff ”

“ The manufacture of starch and other products from corn is an industry of increasing magnitude. The chief starch derivatives are dextrine and glucose or grape sugar (used in brewing beer and as a substitute for true sugar) .
Corn oil may be called a by-product in starch manufacture, yet the annual value of corn oil is greater than that of cornstarch produced in the United States. It is used in soap and paints. Vulcanized by heating with sulphur, it forms a widely used adulterant and substitute for rubber. ”

“ These seasonings, with the addition of salt, pepper, and parsley, are the essential flavorings for stock soups. Flour, cornstarch, arrowroot, fine tapioca, sago, pearl barley, rice, bread, or eggs are added to give consistency and nourishment.
In small families, where there are few left-overs, fresh meat must be bought for the making of soup stock, as a good soup cannot be made from a small amount of poor material. On the other hand, large families need seldom buy fresh meat, provided all left-overs are properly cared for. ”

“ Monotony is the drawback to life in the woods, and corn-starch is doubly welcome on that account. It is nutritious, being composed of the essential{115} portions of the grain, is compact, and easily protected from wet; it furnishes an astonishing variety of desserts where any dessert is a luxury, and it is an admirable addition to one’s stores, though I wish it had a little more taste.
The dinner, including the corn-starch dessert, was a success, and revived Don’s spirits, so that he was up betimes thereafter during our stay at the Harmony. ”

“ In the corn plant the starch is stored chiefly in the grain, and not in the subterranean portions, as in the potato. The granules of the corn starch are much smaller than those of the potato, as indicated by Fig. 2, which is from a camera drawing of a cell from a grain of corn and made to the same scale as Fig. 1. The granules are oval and not much marked with striæ or lines, but chemically the substance is the same in both cases. ”

“ There are two kinds of this corn, one with the cob red, and the other white. The ears are short, and usually contain eight rows, the grains of which, when mature, are of a light colour, and become shrivelled and appear as if they were unripe. It contains an unusually large proportion of the phosphates, and a considerable quantity of sugar and gum, though but little starch. It is extensively cultivated for culinary purposes, and serves as a delicious food, either green or dry. ”

“ There is a delicacy of flavor and a peculiar palatability in the natural sweetness of Indian corn which must necessarily be due to the form of combination with other natural ingredients in which the sugar is found, and not solely to the sugar itself, which is practically ordinary sugar, sucrose, or its inverted product. While there is less starch in the immature kernel of Indian corn the starch is in a different physical state. In other words, it has not become solidified into aggregates of solid particles. ”

“ Corn flakes are made from the starchy part of the maize kernel. The starch of corn itself has little value for the bread baker in its crude form. It is insoluble in cold water, and can only be dissolved by the disintegration of the organized structures of the granules.
On being boiled with water it forms a gelatinous looking mass, and dissolves.
When examined after boiling the starch granules are seen to have broken up, a small part remaining in the liquid as minute insoluble particles. ”

“ Green corn, even in city markets, is both indifferent and dear at this season. We do better, therefore, to fall back upon the invaluable canned vegetables that have made American housewives almost independent of changing seasons. Open a can of corn one hour before it is to be cooked. When ready for it turn into a farina-kettle; pour on just enough hot water to cover it, and cook half [574] an hour. Then, add a little milk, a good lump of butter cut up in flour, pepper and salt to taste, and cook fifteen minutes longer. ”

“ Flint corn in numerous varieties has a large, hard kernel, either white, yellow, orange, red, blue, striped, or blazed. The ears are usually from six to twelve inches long and the plants commonly grow from four to eight feet high. Dent corn is characterized by the indentation at the top of the kernel caused by the drying and shrinking of the starchy matter within. The outer portion of the kernel is corneous as in the pop and flint corns, but the proportion of starch is greater in this group than in either of the other two. ”

“ When it is desired to make up the creams, sift corn starch into a pan to form a thick layer, making it perfectly level on top with the straight edge of a knife. Then make depressions, or molds, in the corn starch by pressing into it the device just described. Make as many rows of molds as the space will permit, but do not make them so close together as to weaken the walls between the molds. Melt some of the center cream in a double boiler, color and flavor as desired, and pour into the molds made in the corn starch. Allow the centers to remain until they become hard in the molds. ”

“ Upon this power depends the storage of starch in roots, tubers, seeds, or wherever else it is found in the plant, and it is of course upon this power man depends for the food supply of the world. Wheat or corn, potatoes, rice, all the foods that are rich in starch produce none in that part of the plant harvested by man. All of it has come by the process which is only sketched in its briefest outlines in the foregoing paragraphs. All of it must come from that green coloring matter of nearly all plants which, while mostly confined to leaves, is not always so. ”

“ A great many plants store up starch in their seeds that the young plant may have food enough to start growing. All our grains do this. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, rice, corn, and all other grains are only the seeds of plants which have been stored full of starch. Peas and beans are also starch-filled 142seeds. Cabbages store food made from starch in their big thick leaves. Beets store sugar and other starch-food materials in their thick roots; so do carrots and parsnips and turnips. Onions store it in their bulb leaves underground. ”

“ As is well known, every seed contains the food to nourish the little growing plant until it is strong enough to draw its supplies from the soil and the food thus provided for the young wheat plant is starch, which, when it is ready for it, it turns into sugar. The little shoot lives on sugar and the maltster and distiller conspire to steal that sugar intended for the baby plants and turn it into alcohol.
So the little plant liberates by some wonderful means a material called diastase, which has the power of changing starch into sugar. ”

“ It is remarkable that all are excessively fond of corn meal in every form in which it is cooked. Every one expresses satis- faction or regret as they happen to have it or not. The "corn starch" substitute is a failure, because it requires eggs to make it good. We think the milk, fruit and meal save us from the diseased anxiety for potatoes and vinegar, as it does from the necessity of using too much salt meat. ”

“ Starch-Making and its Relation to Human Welfare.—Leaves which have been in darkness show starch to be present soon after exposure to light. A corn plant sends 10 to 15 grams of reserve material into the ears in a single day. The formation of fruit, and especially the growth of the grain fields, show the economic importance of this fact. Not only do plants make their own food and store it away, but they make food for animals as well. ”

“ Such attributes are afforded in some cases by the color, in others by the chemical constitution.
We will choose the latter, and take the sugarcorn in comparison with the ordinary or starch producing forms for our starting point. Both sugar- and starch-corns have smooth fruits when ripening. No difference is to be seen in the young ripe spikes. Only the taste, or a direct chemical analysis might reveal the dissimilarity. But as soon as the spikes are dried, a diversity is apparent. The starchy grains remain smooth, but the sugary kernels lose so much water that they become wrinkled. ”

“ All of these materials are necessary to man as food. In the cereals the seeds contain a large proportion of starch, but in the nuts, like the butternuts and [411] walnuts, there is a predominance of oil. Let us for a moment examine a kernel of corn and a kernel of wheat and see how the food is arranged. Fig. 279 is a kernel of corn cut in two lengthwise; at the lower left-hand corner are the root parts and leaf parts of the young plant (the embryo) ; above the embryo is the loose starch material. Now we have the baby corn plant lying at one side, and its food packed about it. ”

“ Southern Big White Flint-Corn, having a large thick cob, with twelve rows of kernels, much resembling, in shape and size, those of the big yellow, and like that variety, is less productive than the white Virginian gourd-seed. It contains more starch, and less oil than the northern flint-corn; but is much softer and a better food for horses, though not so fattening to poultry and swine. When ground into meal, it is apt to become sour, and consequently is unfit to be shipped in that state, unless previously prepared by being kiln-dried. ”

“ Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of white sugar, one cupful of white corn syrup, and one-half cupful of water. Bring to a boil, then add one teaspoonful of glycerine and a fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to about 260 degrees or to a little more than the hard ball stage and not quite to the crack stage. Pour on a greased platter or a [40] slab, and add a tablespoonful of vanilla. Dip your hands in corn-starch and as soon as it cools enough to be handled pull until it is white and waxy. If a hook is used you can make nicer and whiter taffy. ”

“ Popcorn, also widely used, closely resembles other varieties in composition, but after popping differs in composition from the raw chiefly in having a low water content. Corn starch and corn oil, manufactured products, are used in cookery, the former extensively.
In Italy a disease (pellagra) is attributed to the use of corn, which investigation seems to show is due to molding or spoiling of the grain. In the United States, where corn is most eaten, its wholesomeness is no more questioned than that of wheat, since, generally speaking, no evil results have attended its use. ”

“ In the United States the Indian corn is practically the only cereal which furnishes the food starch in very large quantities, although rye starch is extensively used for this purpose in other countries. ”

“ When pop corn is gradually heated, and made so hot that the oil inside of the kernel turns to gas, being unable to escape through the hull of the kernel, the pressure finally becomes strong enough to burst the grain, and the explosion is so violent as to shatter it in a most curious manner.
Popped corn forms an excellent food, the starch of the grain being will cooked. It should, however, be eaten in connection with other food at mealtime, and not as a delicacy between meals. Ground pop corn is considered a delectable dish eaten with milk or cream ”

“ Green Corn.—Must be boiled in clear water, with salt, from twenty minutes to half an hour; if old, it will require a longer time. It must be sent to table directly it is done, as it loses its sweetness by either boiling after it is done, or standing when dished.
(A tea-spoonful of saleratus boiled with corn is said to prevent sickness.)
1225. Corn Oysters.—One pint of grated green corn, one cup of flour, one dessert-spoonful of salt, one tea-spoonful of pepper, one egg.
Mix the ingredients together, drop, and fry them in hot lard. In taste they resemble fried oysters. ”

“ The particular materials that give the corn kernel most of its value are the oil, the protein and the starch. For the production of corn oil—for which the demand is large—a corn that has a high oil content is, of course, particularly valuable; while for the production of starch or for the feeding of bacon hogs, a relatively higher percentage of other materials is desirable. It is apparent, therefore, that races of corn should be bred for a particular content, depending on the disposition to be made of the grain. ”

“ Boyce called attention to the fact that corn is a universal crop in the United States. Demand from Europe has made wheat prices high, but Europe has not yet learned to eat our corn.
“Your advice should be heeded by everybody, in the cities and in the smaller places and country,” says one letter, from an Iowa town. “Corn has been selling at from seventy-two to seventy-seven cents a bushel. Bulk cornmeal of good quality can be bought for three to five cents a pound. As you say, there is no better food in the wintertime. People have been eating too much wheat.” ”

“ I have not spoken of the use of the starch of the grain in the preceding observations, because, as both whole meal and fine flour contain a sufficient quantity of it to supply the wants of the living animal, it was unnecessary to the main object of this paper. But with bran the case is different. It is doubtful if the purposes of the starch could be fully, and with sufficient speed, fulfilled by the ingredients which, in the bran, take the place of starch in the flour. ”