What is White Corn and How Can You Use it In Cooking?

Gentle, humble and unjustly forgotten, white corn is an ancient cereal, a variety with a delicate flavor, naturally gluten-free and rich in beneficial properties. Satiating and particularly versatile, white corn is very common in Latin America where it is widely used in traditional preparations; the cob is thin and tapered with small grains from which a flour with a white color and a delicate flavor is obtained. Imported into Europe after the discovery of America, white corn has been supplanted over time by the yellow variety and hybrid seeds, more advantageous in terms of yield and production. Where and how to use white corn in the kitchen? What does white corn flour taste like? Here's everything you need to know about this ancient grain and why it's a good idea to keep an eye on it and in your kitchen.

White Corn: Properties and Benefits

White corn and the flour that is obtained from it differ from the more common yellow variety not only in color, flavor and size but also from a strictly nutritional point of view. Naturally gluten-free and therefore also suitable for those who suffer from intolerance or celiac disease, white corn is rich in fiber and mineral salts, in particular calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus (essential for cardiovascular health) and iron (it contains about 30% of the daily requirement); it is an excellent source of vitamin A and B, in particular vitamin B6, and is also low in sugar and nickel, an element that often causes intolerances.

White corn flour, a true pride of Venetian tradition, is highly digestible, guarantees a high sense of satiety and proves to be particularly versatile in the kitchen; its caloric intake does not differ significantly from that of other flours (362 kcal per 100 grams) while the presence of fibre is noteworthy (double compared to wholemeal flour and triple if you think about yellow corn flour).

How to Use White Corn in Cooking

The taste of white corn is decidedly more delicate and less "strong" than the more common yellow corn, a characteristic that makes the grains and flour very versatile in the kitchen. The main food use of white corn is in the form of flour: produced with a stone mill or mechanically, it is possible to find it on the market in different varieties based on the type of processing undergone by the grains.

How to use it? In Colombia and Venezuela, white corn flour is the fundamental ingredient of arepas, soft flatbreads that are very simple to prepare and can be filled with meat, cheese and vegetables. Moving to the Mexican streets we come across tortillas, rigorously cooked on a hot griddle, to be enjoyed with any type of filling.