SC - corn flour? - oop

[Linda Taylor]

>From: Magdalena <magdlena at earthlink.net>
>Subject: SC - corn flour? - oop
>Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 21:01:31 -0600
>
>Hi!
>
>     I have a European cookbook (I live in America), and a recipe I'm
>interested in calls for corn flour.  Is that the same as the corn meal I
>have in my freezer?  And has anyone ever made shortbread with a half and
>half mix of corn meal and white flour?
>
>Thanks
>-Magdalena


My experience in European cookbooks that have an "English-to-American" 
translation (e.g. Jane Grigson's Fruit Book) has been that "corn flour" 
means what we call "cornstarch" here in the USA, i.e. the refined, white 
stuff with the indian-maiden-cum-ear-of-corn on the box, sort of an "amydoun 
of maize" if you will. It is called for especially in shortbread recipes as 
part of the flour measure in order to lower the overall gluten content of 
the mixture without appreciably changing the flavor. The result is a crisper 
and more tender cookie. I have occasionally seen rice flour used this way 
too, and Elizabeth David in _English Bread and Yeast Cookery_ even says that 
"English cornflour, as opposed to American cornstarch, was often actually 
made from rice, a very English way of causing confusion." Using cornmeal 
instead of the cornstarch would make for an interesting experiment, though. 
I have seen Italian cookie recipes that do call for cornmeal (in Carol 
Field's _The Italian Baker_, for one).



Morwyn of Wye, O.L.
Barony of Three Mountains, An Tir
(Portland, OR, USA)
mka Linda Taylor, lmt_inpnw at hotmail.com

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