cornmeal

[ishka]

I've been reading the recipe requests forum and now I really want to make some cornbread. I have a cast iron frying pan; what I don't have, I don't think, is cornmeal.

I'm in Australia and can't find anything labelled cornmeal anywhere.  What I can find is polenta.

Is polenta the same thing as cornmeal?

[SamiHami]

I found this on Chowhound:

"For cornmeal, grits and polenta, the major difference is the coarseness of the grind. Cornmeal tends to be finer ground than polenta for example which makes for a very different texture and cooking time. Polenta is poor choice for cornbread because of this. Corn flour (which you didn't ask about) is even finer than cornmeal."

Which makes me wonder if you can grind polenta a bit and then use it in place of cornmeal...?

[ishka]

I'm going to try this.  I think I've seen two types of polenta - fine and coarse ground- so I'll get fine and give it an extra grind.

I'm ridiculously excited by the idea of making cornbread; I've never tasted it but for some reason it has assumed mythical status in my mind as the "most delicious thing ever" - hopefully with your help I will soon get to experience this out of this world deliciousness for myself (and maybe my husband if I decide to let him have any)

[catgal]

I'm in Australia and have found cornmeal in the health food aisle in Coles, not in the baking aisle like I thought it would be. It's been years since I made cornbread, so let us know how it turned out, and naturally the recipe!

[Redsoil]

So cornmeal isn't the same as cornflour?  I can get cornflour here in Aus (v. small country town - no exotic ingredients!)

Cornflour is handy to add to scrambled eggs (1 teaspoon) as it keeps them from being watery. 

[cicero]

I've been reading the recipe requests forum and now I really want to make some cornbread. I have a cast iron frying pan; what I don't have, I don't think, is cornmeal.

I'm in Australia and can't find anything labelled cornmeal anywhere.  What I can find is polenta.

Is polenta the same thing as cornmeal?

i ususally just use polenta - i like the slight "heaviness" of corn flour / polenta.




it's funny - in israel they call corn STARCH "cornflour" and they call corn FLOUR "the hebrew word for corn and flour" which tends to mix people up when they first come here.

[SamiHami]

I'm going to try this.  I think I've seen two types of polenta - fine and coarse ground- so I'll get fine and give it an extra grind.

I'm ridiculously excited by the idea of making cornbread; I've never tasted it but for some reason it has assumed mythical status in my mind as the "most delicious thing ever" - hopefully with your help I will soon get to experience this out of this world deliciousness for myself (and maybe my husband if I decide to let him have any)

You will love it! It goes extremely well with chili. Be warned that it can tend to be a bit dry; it's fairly common to use butter, honey or (in the case of one friend) maple syrup on it.

For a decadent sweet treat, take a piece of cornbread, put it in a drinking glass, pour some cold milk over it and sprinkle with a spoonful of sugar. Eat with a spoon. That was a favorite childhood treat; haven't had it that way for years. Hmm...

Let us know how it turns out!

[Bethczar]

Cornbread is a lovely thing -good luck with yours. We would eat it with butter with chili, like Samihami, or covered in syrup or molasses for breakfast.

[LTrew]

I'm an American living in the UK, and here corn flour is what I would call corn starch.  I've only been able to find actual corn flour in the Indian section of the biggest grocery store around here which has a good foreign food selection, and then it is called maize flour and is actually a bit too finely ground to make good corn bread!  Mixing that with some fine polenta would probably be just about right though, will have to try it!