Editing Hominy (section)

==History==
{{main|Nixtamalization#History}}
[[File:Dried Maize Mote from Oaxaca.png|thumb|right|Dried (uncooked form of) hominy. US [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarter]] and Mexican [[Mexican peso|one-peso]] coins pictured for scale.]]The process of nixtamalization has been fundamental to [[Mesoamerican cuisine]] since ancient times<!--1200 to 1500 BC-->. The [[lime (material)|lime]] used to treat the maize can be obtained from several different materials. Among the [[Lacandon people|Lacandon]] Maya who inhabited the tropical lowland regions of eastern [[Chiapas]], the [[Quicklime|caustic powder]] was obtained by toasting freshwater shells over a fire for several hours. In the highland areas of Chiapas and throughout much of the [[Yucatán Peninsula]], [[Belize River]] valley and [[Petén Basin]], [[limestone]] was used to make [[slaked lime]] for steeping the shelled kernels.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cheetham |first=David |title=Corn, Colanders, and Cooking: Early Maize Processing in the Maya Lowlands and Its Implications |publisher=Springer-Verlag |page=346}}</ref> The [[Maya civilization|Maya]] used nixtamal to produce beers that more resembled ''[[chicha]]'' than ''[[pulque]]''. When bacteria were introduced to nixtamal it created a type of [[sourdough]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Jeffrey M. Pilcher |title=Maize and the Making of Mexico |page=30}}</ref>

The process of nixtamalization spread from Mesoamerica northwards through various indigenous tribes of North America. European settlers first encountered the dish in eastern North America, with the word hominy being an [[Anglicisation|anglicization]] of the [[Powhatan language|Powhatan]] word ''rokahamĕn.''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gomez-Misserian |first=Gabriela |date=2022-12-13 |title=Wood Ash Hominy: From Indigenous Nourishment to Southern Shame to Chef Secret |url=https://gardenandgun.com/articles/wood-ash-hominy-from-indigenous-nourishment-to-southern-shame-to-chef-secret/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=Garden & Gun |language=en-US}}</ref>

Hominy became a [[Famine food|poverty food]] during the [[Great Depression in the United States]]. Because of this, there is still a [[Taboo|stigma]] associated with the dish, particularly among survivors of the Great Depression in the [[Southern United States]].<ref name=":0" />