Arizona state miner., 1925-03-21
Cereal Forms Important
Part of Food Supply In
Many Counties.

Washington, D. C.-Mexico's corn
crop moved up a few pegs this year.
Interesting economics and sociology
are wrapped up in such report, ac-
cOrdfng TO bulletin from the WASH
fHgton, D. c., headquarters Of the Ma
tional Geographic society which points
out that, like adequate rice supplies
In China, potatoes in Ireland, or wheat
in Russia, a good stock of corn IN
Mexico is likely to contribute toward
general cOntentment and stability.
Corn orImaize is the staff of life In
Mexico" says the bulletin, ''but to the
American used to his substantial and
sizable loaf it is likely to appear
somewhat frail prop. Most of the
Mexican corn is not milled into meal
or flour. 1t is laboriOusly crushed with
small stone rollers by hand, In mil
lions of kitchens and dooryards. The
crushed grain is then moistened into
a stiff paste and cooked on a griddle
into what the average visitor from
north of the Rio Grande would term
tough, f1abby pancake These are
tortillas, the most generally used arti-
cles of food in Mexico. They are
cooked in the home, in restaurants,
over braziers in the market-place, or
taken cold by laborers in their lunch
packets. Nor are they unknown on
the tables of the prosperous. Wher-
ever food appears In Mexico the tor
tilla stands well to the fore.
"Not only does the tortilla look un-
appetizing to the outsider; 1t is sure
to prove unappetizing If he follows his
first impulse and treats it like a PAN
cake. for it is tough and rather taste
less. But treated as bread, the tOrtilla
will make much better impression.
The proper trick is to roll it tightly
so that it will be manageable and will
retain its heat. 1t then becomes a
bread-stick whose spiraled end will
melt a bit of butter and furnish
really delectable bite.
To Eat TortilIas.
IF one casts aside Outlander no
tions Of etiquette he can enjoy his
tortilla even more. II the rolled end
chile con carne or the highly seasoned
gravy of a stew, it furnishes delight
full morsels. Among the millions rath-
er than the thousands of Mexicans,
however, tortillas are eaten day In
and day out with boiled brown beans.
"Corn contributes to another i'm
portant Mexican dish, the tamale.
OIL ic olT
versally believed by botanists to have
originated in the Western Hemisphere,
probably in Central America, upland
South America. or Mexico. 1t was
wholly unknown in Europe and the
Near East until after the discovery of
America but 1t is so prolific a crop
and the grain is so satisfactory as
food for both man and live stock, that
its culture spread rapidly over the
world after the Sixteenth century. The
United States continues to be the
dominant producer of maize, but Ar
gentina is getting to be a considerable
rival and exports millions of bushels.
Throughout Portugal, in parts of
Spain, in southern France, in the Pc
valley Oh 1Idly, anu III TIE COuuIIloS
along the lower Danube, maize is a
valuable crop and the grain an impor-
tant food material. The American
from the corn belt who made a trip
through these countries would have
surprises aplenty in the different meth
DDS of handling and raising corn. In
Portugal he would find corn not be-
ing 'shelled' by machine or hand, but
the ears spread out on a threshing
floor, being beaten with fails.
TN Italy corn Is seldom made into
bread. The meal is made into thick