Hominy is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization.
To make hominy, field corn (maize) grain is dried, then treated by soaking and cooking the mature (hard) grain in a dilute solution of lye (sodium hydroxide) (which can be produced from water and wood ash) or of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide from limestone, not the fruit called lime). The maize is then washed thoroughly to remove the bitter flavor of the lye or lime. Alkalinity helps dissolve hemicellulose, the major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, loosens the hulls from the kernels, and softens the corn.
Hominy is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization. To make hominy, field corn (maize) grain is dried, then treated by soaking and cooking the mature (hard) grain in a dilute solution of lye (sodium hydroxide) (which can be produced from water and wood ash) or of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide from limestone, not the fruit called lime). The maize is then washed thoroughly to remove the bitter flavor of the lye or lime. Alkalinity helps dissolve hemicellulose, the major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, loosens the hulls from the kernels, and softens the corn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy
