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Maize Day

Food · History · The Friday after the fourth Thursday in November

A look at maize, the grain most Americans call corn, with its many colors, its long history in the Americas and the many foods made from it.

Maize Day falls on Friday, November 27, 2026. That is 31 days away.

Maize is the grain most Americans simply call corn. It grows as a tall grass with ears wrapped in husks, and each kernel on the cob is a seed. The word maize is common in much of the world and among farmers and historians, because corn can mean any grain depending on where you are.

The plant was domesticated in the Americas long before it reached other continents, and it was a staple for many Indigenous peoples. Today it shows up in more forms than most people stop to count. Sweet corn is eaten fresh off the cob. Field corn, a different type, is dried and ground into cornmeal, masa and grits, or fed to livestock. Popcorn is its own variety, with a hard hull that traps moisture until heat makes the kernel burst.

The colors alone make maize interesting. Besides yellow and white, there are blue, red, purple and speckled kinds, often sold as flint corn or ornamental corn. Blue corn tortillas and chips are one easy way to taste something other than yellow.

Marking the day usually means cooking with it. Cornbread, tortillas made from masa harina, a pot of grits or a bowl of stovetop popcorn all count. Nixtamalization, the old method of cooking dried maize in an alkaline solution such as limewater, is what turns it into masa and makes tortillas hold together.

If you have leftover cornbread from a big meal, it crumbles nicely into stuffing or a skillet breakfast the next morning.

Ways to celebrate

• Make cornbread or corn muffins from scratch.
• Try pressing tortillas with masa harina and water.
• Pop a pot of popcorn on the stove.
• Look for blue corn chips or tortillas at the store.
• Cook a pot of grits or polenta for breakfast.

Dates

All national days on November 27

Also on November 27

• National Bavarian Cream Pie Day
• National Craft Jerky Day
• Black Friday
• Sinkie Day
• Turtle Adoption Day
• National Day of Listening
• National Pins and Needles Day

Categories: Food daysHistory days