For me, it is always amazing how one discovery or invention spawns another. That was very true for a useful by-product during the 19th century. The original crop was corn, whose long bristles created a housecleaning revolution. In the 1800s, very efficient brooms were mass produced out of this “broomcorn.” The bristles were densely clustered, evenly trimmed and bound together for household cleaning.
So the story starts for one of the best-known and most beloved American products — corn flakes. But what about the brooms?
Selling brooms was the first real employment of a teenaged Seventh-day Adventist named Will Kellogg. Will’s parents had become Adventists after the death of their daughter as a result of medical incompetence. When they heard of the medical theories of Adventist leaders James White and Ellen White of Battle Creek, Michigan, the sold their farm in Connecticut and moved to Battle Creek, where they opened a broom factory.
Water cures were one of the healing methods used by the Adventists to try and cure a variety of diseases. Ellen White had a vision to open hospitals where baths and exercise were taught and practiced.
Ten years later, the elder brother, John Harvey Kellogg, who had earned a medical degree, took charge of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Under his administration, the sanitarium became one of the largest and richest hospitals in the United States.
Only one man — his younger brother, Will — could compete with John Harvey Kellogg. He experimented with making bread more digestible by compressing its flakes between rollers. The rollers were already being used to make granola.
One night, the brothers found that the wheat had been left too long after boiling, but they rolled it anyway. Each wheat berry turned into an elongated thin flake. They baked the flakes — and thus granola was born.
Wheat flakes began to be offered to the public and started to catch on as a breakfast food. Many companies started to be formed to offer the new health craze — breakfast food. Gradually, the flakes were improved.
Will Kellogg began to experiment with corn instead of wheat for his flakes. These were called “horse food.” The first corn flakes were flavorless and very unpopular. However, gradually, they were improved with malt, altered in texture, and thinned and crisped. Eventually they became the corn flakes we know today.
It is amazing how corn, originally know as maize, has remained popular through the years — as a vegetable, as a cereal, and as flour.
Its usefulness was not limited to food. The Peruvians obtained sugar from its stalks, the Mexicans a honey-like substance, and a kind of beer and wine was made from it by all natives of the tropics.
Corn was so important to the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs and Native Americans of the Southwest, Plains and northern tribes that this plant entered into their mythology and religious practices.
The plant appears as the Corn Mother. To the Iroquois of New York State, corn, beans and squash represent the three sisters. The corn dance is one of the most spectacular ceremonial dances. It is performed by tribes dependent upon corn to ensure a bountiful crop.
Corn came to be universally accepted by the settlers as it had been by the tribes throughout the country. Today, it is one of America’s favorite vegetables. It is also one of our great agricultural crops and the cornerstone of many industries.
Cornmeal is corn that is coarsely ground. In “new-process” cornmeal, the corn is ground after the hull and germ of the kernel are removed. In “old-process” cornmeal, the whole grain is ground into meal. Although old-process cornmeal is richer in vitamin A, new-process cornmeal keeps better because it has less fat content.
Cornmeal is used in many parts of the world in much the same way as we use bread or potatoes. Italy’s famous polenta and Romania’s mamaliga are cornmeal cooked into a thick mush, served by itself or with a sauce, milk, meat, or vegetables. It also can be fried.
My Corn and Mushrooms
■ 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
■ 1 tablespoon minced onion
■ 2 tablespoons butter 3 cups cut fresh corn
■ 1 teaspoon each sugar and salt
■ 1/4 teaspoon pepper
■ Few sprigs parsley, chopped
■ 1 pimiento, or small red pepper, cut up
Cook the mushrooms and onion in butter in a skillet for about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except parsley and pimiento, and sauté for about 5 minutes longer. Put in serving dish and sprinkle with parsley and pimiento. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
June 16, 2021 at 05:00AM
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Hilde Lee: Corn transformed daily living from breakfast to brooms - The Daily Progress
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