In honor of Native American Heritage month, let's talk about the second of the gastronomical trinity of Native Americans—maize or corn. It is from the Arawak, one of three Amerindian groups to inhabit the Caribbean, that the word mahiz comes from which the Spanish derived the term maize for corn. Corn represented the staple grain that Amerindians across the continent cooked with. They used it in a variety of ways including preparing corn breads, popped corn, puddings, dumplings, porridges, stews, and drinks--some of them alcoholic and some nonalcoholic. Native Americans also processed corn (which comes in so many different sizes and colors) by adding ash to make hominies, grinding it into a meal, eating it green, fresh, parched, boiled, baked, steamed, and roasted. In the southwestern regions of North America and throughout most of Mesoamerica and parts of South America Native Americans used grinding stones to produce corn tortillas.
