
Indigenous people in the New World referred to maize as ' Our Mother' ' Our Life' & ' She Who Sustains Us' Originating in Mesoamerica 9000 years ago corn or maize now grows in 160 countries Michael Owen Jones traces the transportation of corn to the Old World by Christopher Columbus & its rapid distribution throughout Europe Africa & Asia that followed He describes many of the remarkable culinary uses of corn from the Chilean savoury pie pastel de choclo to Japanese corn soup Mexican tamales & the South African cracked hominy dish umngqusho favoured by former president Nelson Mandela While Jones addresses the controversies surrounding maize he also writes about the many ways corn is celebrated