Blue corn

For the Native American artist and potter called "Blue Corn", see Crucita Calabaza.
Hopi blue corn
New Mexican blue corn for posole (L) and roasted and ground (R)
Ears of corn, including the dark blue corn variety

Blue corn (also known as Hopi maize, Yoeme Blue, Tarahumara Maiz Azul, and Rio Grande Blue) is a group of several closely related varieties of flint corn grown in Mexico, the Southwestern United States, and the Southeastern United States.[1][2][3] It is one of the main types of corn used for the traditional Southern and Central Mexican food known as tlacoyo.

It was originally developed by the Hopi, the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande in Arizona, and several Southeastern tribes, including the Cherokee.[2] It remains an essential part of Hopi dishes like piki bread. Blue corn meal is a corn meal that is ground from whole blue corn and has a sweet flavor. It is also a staple of New Mexican cuisine used commonly to make tortillas.[4]

Blue corn contains anthocyanins, which give the corn its blue color.

  1. ^ Soleri, D; Cleaveland, D. (1993). "Hopi Crop Diversity and Change" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology. 13 (2). Society of Ethnobiology: 203–231. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ^ a b Johnson, Duane L.; Jha, Mitra N. (1993), "Blue Corn", in Janick, Jules; Simon, James E. (eds.), New Crops, New York: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 228–230, ISBN 0-471-59374-5, retrieved 2010-07-23
  3. ^ "About Us". Cherokee Nation. Archived from the original on 2019-02-17. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  4. ^ McKee, Gwen; Barbara Moseley (1999). Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook: Selected Recipes from New Mexico's Favorite Cookbooks. Quail Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-937552-93-3.