What do the Spanish call corn?
The most common word for corn in Spanish is "maíz", but there are regional differences in the word's usage and pronunciation. In some countries, the word "choclo" is used instead of "maíz", while in Mexico, the word "elote" is used to refer to corn on the cob.
"Elote" is a noun which is often translated as "corncob", and "maíz" is a noun which is often translated as "corn". Learn more about the difference between "elote" and "maíz" below.
The world “elote” means “corn cob” in Spanish, and Mexican Elote is grilled corn on the cob slathered in a mayo cream sauce and garnished with chili powder, cheese and lime.
Corn—also known as maize, goes by the scientific name Zea mays subsp. mays, and is a part of the grass family or Poaceae.
Maize (/meɪz/ MAYZ; Zea mays subsp. mays, from Spanish: maíz after Taino: mahis), also known as corn in North American and Australian English, is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago.
Maíz. That quintessential Latin American crop, corn, has many different names across the Spanish-speaking world: maíz - as in maize - being the most common. Sweet corn is maíz tierno or maíz dulce.
The word “corn” comes from the Old English via Old Norse korn, meaning “grain.” In most of the world, “corn” simply means the cereal crop most dominant in a region and can refer to any number of grains such as rye, wheat or oats.
One is called maíz criollo (national corn), which is the most common type planted. The second type is called gibara, which has a bigger ear than maíz criollo . They do grow popcorn varieties, but this is a small percentage of corn acreage. When used in Cuban cuisine, corn is harvested when it is in the milk stage.
The word maize comes from the Spanish maíz, or corn, and both the word and the grain itself moved north from Central and South America into North America, where it became the continent's largest grain crop.
The word “elote” evolved from the Nahuatl word elotitutl, which translates to “tender cob.” Corn has been a staple in Latin American culture dating back to indigenous peoples' staple crop and maintaining its popularity as its portability made it easier to eat for a people becoming increasingly on-the-go.
What does Elotes mean in Spanish?
masculine noun (Central America, Mexico) (= mazorca) corncob ⧫ corn on the cob. (= maíz) maize (Brit) ⧫ corn (US) ⧫ sweet corn.
Corn Today
While there are more than 60 varieties of corn in Mexico, there are two that stand out: sweet corn and dent corn. Dent corn, or field corn, is usually yellow or white. Because of its high percentage of starch, this corn is best for making hominy (corn processed through nixtamalization).

Corn is an ancient grain with a fascinating history that most people don't know about. Originally from Mesoamerica, more specifically Mexico, corn is now found in all parts of the world where the crop can grow.
Corn is also used to produce many things beyond typical Mexican dishes such as quesadillas, esquites, tamales and popcorn. It is an essential ingredient of nearly 4,000 products, and some of the byproducts of corn are used, such as syrup, oil, flour and starch.
- Zea.
- maize.
- corn cob.
- Zea saccharata.
- sugar corn.
- corncob.
- sweet corn.
- popcorn.
A corn, also known as a "calvus," heloma," or "focal intractable plantar hyperkeratosis," is a type of callosity. Corns are uncomfortable, thickened skin lesions that result from repeated mechanical trauma due to friction or pressure forces.
Choclo, also referred to as Peruvian corn or Cuzco corn (after Cuzco, the capital city of the Inca empire), is a large-kernel variety of field corn from the Andes. It is consumed in parts of Central America and South America, especially in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.
The relationship between corn and the Americas goes back millennia, as indigenous tribes in the highlands of southern Mexico cultivated and selectively bred the tiny, rock-hard ears into the vegetable we know and love today.
Corn, Zea mays, belongs to the Poaceae family, and while eaten sometimes as a vegetable and sometimes as a grain, it is actually classified by botanists as a fruit, as are tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and other squashes.
2 corn /ˈkoɚn/ noun. plural corns.
What do Puerto Ricans call popcorn?
...
The varieties of Spanish.
Country | Spanish equivalent for “popcorn” |
---|---|
Dominican Republic | palomitas (de maíz) |
Mexico | palomitas de maíz |
Peru | canchita |
Puerto Rico | popcorn |
In Mexico, popcorn is translated as “palomitas.” In Guatemala, it's “poporopo.” In Cuba, it's “rositas de maíz.” In Chile, it's “palomitas” or “cabritas.” In Ecuador, it's “canguil.” In Argentina, it's “pochoclo.” In Peru, it's “canchitas.” And in Colombia, it's “crispetas.” The Cubana in the video also said that she ...
Known in the US as hominy in the US, maíz cacahuacintle is one of the favorite types of corn in Mexico. It has giant kernels that are whiter, softer, thicker, with rounder tops, than the regular white or yellow corn. It also has a deep, mealy bite.
The most common types of corn include flint, flour, dent, pop, sweet, and waxy. The physical appearance of each kernel type is determined by its pattern of endosperm composition as well as quantity and quality of endosperm (Figure. 1).
From Latin cornū (“horn”).
Why are they called “ears of corn?” The shape resembles the ear of a donkey, the domesticated animal that was traditionally used to plow cornfields. In Old English, the word ear means a spike or head of grain.
Maize was the single most important staple of the Aztec diet. It was eaten at almost every meal by all social classes. In fact, it was so revered, that women often blew softly on maize before putting it in the cooking pot so it would not 'fear the fire'.
One of the four staples of Peruvian food is corn, or as the Incas called it choclo (choccllo). The term choclo refers to fresh 'corn on the cob' but is different in taste and appearance from the conventional western comfort food that people spread butter on or pop in the microwave.
Also called 'choclo,' we first tasted this corn from the gardens of Bill Tracy and have since enjoyed it in South America where it is beloved in all the ways above as well as simply grilled and enjoyed as sweet corn, slathered in salted butter, lime and smoked chiles.
Field corn, also known as cow corn, is a North American term for maize (Zea mays) grown for livestock fodder (silage), ethanol, cereal, and processed food products.
What did the Mayans call corn?
The Maya used maize, which we call corn, to make tortillas (flat pancakes similar to how we use bread), tamales (vegetables and meat wrapped up in a corn husk and like a pasty), and a nutritious corn drink which is very nourishing. Maize is the most common crop grown in the Maya area.
The most important staple was corn (maize), a crop that was so important to Aztec society that it played a central part in their mythology.
History of Corn in Mexico
Corn on the cob is a popular street food in Mexico, which is how Mexican Street Corn got its name, although in Mexico it is known as “elote,” which literally means corn cob.
Meaning of cotija in English
a hard, white, dry Mexican cheese made from cow's milk: We topped each taco with a little bit of grated cotija, chunks of radish, and a spoonful of salsa.
: a hard, white, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow's milk. Another Mexican-style cheese that's great for summer meals is cotija. Firm, white, and salty, it crumbles readily and is a grand alternative to parmesan in salads or sprinkled over vegetables.
Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese made from cow's milk and named after the town of Cotija, Michoacán.
If you want authentic flavor, you have to prepare this dish with white Mexican corn, elote blanco, not sweet corn. Mexican corn is much firmer, not sweet, and has an earthy, grain like taste. The first time I ate elote blanco I was confused.
Huitlacoche: What is it & how is it used? Huitlacoche is a Latin American delicacy that grows on corn plants. Pronounced whee-tla-KOH-cheh, it can also be found under the aliases corn truffle, corn smut and Mexican truffle. So how can this corn fungus go from a farmer's nightmare to a culinary delicacy?
The kernels are soaked in an alkali solution that removes the hull and germ of the corn, causing the grain to puff up to about twice its normal size, giving it the appearance of giant corn. Hominy has become a staple of Mexican cooking, traditionally used in soups, stews, and casseroles.
An interesting kernel of truth is that most scientists and historians believe the people who lived in central Mexico were the first to develop corn about 5000 to 7000 years ago. It all started from a wild grass named teosinte.
Who brought corn to Mexico?
Corn was originally domesticated in Mexico by native peoples by about 9,000 years ago. They used many generations of selective breeding to transform a wild teosinte grass with small grains into the rich source of food that is modern Zea mays.
Scientists believe people living in central Mexico developed corn at least 7000 years ago. It was started from a wild grass called teosinte. Teosinte looked very different from our corn today. The kernels were small and were not placed close together like kernels on the husked ear of modern corn.
Corn has been a part of the Mexican diet forever, and it is consumed in all possible forms: as a cooked or roasted corncob (elote), as cooked grain or porridge (atole), as wrapped and steamed dough with filling (tamal), in hearty corn stew (pozole), but most importantly as a tortilla, a thin, round “pancake.” Corn is ...
Corn tortillas are seen as more authentic to Mexican dishes, corn has been a staple ingredient in Mexican cooking for thousands of years. Wheat, on the other hand, has only been around since the Spanish brought the crop with them when they arrived in the Americas.
But according to a new study published in Science, the trajectory of teosinte's evolution into the golden grain we know today may be more complex than scientists previously thought. Maize domestication, the commonly accepted theory goes, happened in the Balsas River Valley of south-central Mexico.
(= mazorca) corncob ⧫ corn on the cob.
It was started from a wild grass called teosinte. Teosinte looked very different from our corn today. The kernels were small and were not placed close together like kernels on the husked ear of modern corn.
Some 9,000 years ago, corn as it is known today did not exist. Ancient peoples in southwestern Mexico encountered a wild grass called teosinte that offered ears smaller than a pinky finger with just a handful of stony kernels.
Corn is more than a staple in Mexico. Iconic, emblematic and quintessentially Mexican, corn isn't just the primary basis of daily meals. It's a food that is alive with history and imbued with meaning. Here, corn is “the food with which the gods chose to feed mankind." It is a symbol of Mexico itself.
An interesting kernel of truth is that most scientists and historians believe the people who lived in central Mexico were the first to develop corn about 5000 to 7000 years ago. It all started from a wild grass named teosinte. Teosinte probably looked a lot different from modern corn.
What is the word Cotija?
: a hard, white, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow's milk.
[ˈtɑːkəʊ ] tortilla rellena hecha con harina de maíz.
The generic definition of taco is a wedge used to plug a hole or something that obstructs the flow of a liquid. It is also a pool stick or the shoe heel for either men or women. For example, ladies use tacos or tacones (plural of tacón) that means high heels.