cornmeal
Corn ground into a coarse meal, used for cornbread, as a crisp coating for frying, and cooked into porridge-like dishes such as polenta and grits. The grind ranges from fine to coarse, and that grind changes both texture and how long it needs to cook.
Buying guidance
Check the package date and choose a dry, unopened bag from a store with decent turnover -- stale cornmeal tastes flat and can pick up off flavors. Note whether it's labeled fine, medium, or coarse (or as grits or polenta), since texture depends on matching that grind to what's being made.
Substitutions
- A different grind of cornmeal or polenta -- coarser grinds need noticeably more liquid and cooking time than fine ones.
- Masa harina -- not a true substitute despite also being ground corn, since it's treated with lime (nixtamalized) and behaves very differently in both flavor and texture.
Tips & common mistakes
Swapping a different grind than a recipe calls for changes texture more than most substitutions do -- fine cornmeal gives a smooth, cake-like crumb while coarse gives a gritty, corn-forward bite, and the two aren't interchangeable cup for cup without changing the result.
Storage
Stone-ground or whole-grain cornmeal still has the germ intact, and the oil in it turns rancid faster than degermed supermarket cornmeal -- refrigerate or freeze it if the label says stone-ground or whole-grain, and give it a sniff before using if it's been stored a while.