Cornmeal is a coarse flour made by grinding dried corn kernels into a grainy powder. Unlike regular wheat flour, which feels soft and powdery, cornmeal has a gritty texture you can feel between your fingers, somewhere between sand and flour.

Cornmeal is a staple ingredient in many traditional American foods. It's what gives cornbread its distinctive yellow color and slightly crunchy texture. Southern cooks use it to make hush puppies (deep-fried cornmeal balls) and to coat fish or chicken before frying, creating a crispy golden crust. In Italy, cooks use cornmeal to make polenta, a creamy porridge that can be served soft or cooled and sliced.

The texture of cornmeal varies: fine cornmeal works well for smooth cornbread, while coarse cornmeal adds extra crunch. Some recipes call for stone-ground cornmeal, which keeps more of the corn's natural flavor and nutrients because it's ground between traditional millstones rather than steel rollers.

Cornmeal comes in yellow, white, and blue varieties, depending on the type of corn used. Yellow cornmeal is most common, but the color doesn't affect the taste much.