Cornflour and Cornstarch

Cornflour and arrowroot are both thickening agents.

However they differ slightly in both appearance and usage.

Cornflour, or more accurately, Cornstarch, is a fine white powder that is made from grinding the heart of the corn kernel.

It has a cloudy, opaque appearance when mixed in water. It can be used to thicken soups, make pastry cream, prepare roux and also serve as a light substitute for flour (but used in conjuction with flour) in some cakes and pastries.

Arrowroot is an easily digested starch extracted from the roots of the arrowroot plant, Maranta arundinacea

Arrowroot has a more specialized usage because unlike cornflour, it does not turn the liquid opaque and does not cause any discoloration (clear). It is also flavour neutral and has no taste. Therefore, its more suited to be used in products where the color and taste is an issue (jellies, puddings, cakes, curries etc.)

Cornstarch Substitute

For 1 tablespoon cornstarch, substitute 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour;

OR

1 tablespoon potato flour or rice flour;

OR

4 teaspoons quick-cooking tapioca;

OR

2 teaspoons arrowroot.

• For at least 1 month the person persists in eating dirt or other nonnutritive substances

• This behavior is not appropriate to the person's developmental level.

• If this behavior occurs solely in the context of another mental disorder (such as Mental Retardation, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia), it is serious enough to require independent clinical attention.

ASSOCIATED FEATURES: Pica can be experienced by any socioeconomic group. There are no cultural propensity towards this disorder. While it may be associated with nutritional deficiencies such as iron deficiency anemia, pica can occur when there are no deficiencies.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: Some idsorders have similar or even the same symptom. The clinician, therefore, in his diagnostic attempt has to differentiate against the following disorders which he needs to rule out to establish a precise diagnosis.

CAUSE: Pica can occur during pregnancy. Some cases occur in people with severe psychiatric conditions. In others, no cause can be identified.

TREATMENT: Treatment emphasizes psychosocial, enviornmental, and family guidance approaches.

Other successful treatments have been mild aversion therapy followed by positive reinforement.

If you have a child with "Pica" please do not blame yourself. Like any other genetic factor (diabetes, mental disorders, heart disease at an early age, etc.) there is no way a new parent can know of many genetic problems unless they are aware of a certain genetic factor in their family.

Unless you have had your child diagnosed correctly please don't jump to conclusions. Example:

Children will eat dirt or any other thing they can get their tiny little hands on. I use to eat the tips of wooden matches (liked the sulfa taste off it) and it was quite common for children to do so. Many of us kids ate dirt, tar, etc. One of my girlfriends little boys ate a slug! Ewwww! When you are little, the old saying is, "if you don't know what it is, wonder about it ... eat it!"

If you do have a problem there is good help out there which was mentioned in the report I just typed for you.

some side effects are weight gain, diabetes, tooth decay and anemia

Updated 05/26/08 (TeddyRea): I have personally been severly addicted to starch for years and have gotten to the point where I was eating 1 box a day and more recently almost 2 boxes. I would literally substitute starch for food. It is highly addictive and darn near impossible to stop. I have been starch free for almost 2 weeks now and each day is a struggle. I want to share some of the side effects I experienced personally in hopes of helping and informing others. Side effects that I personally experienced from eating starch include:

oral thrush (look it up...very gross....like a type of fungus that grows on your tongue from increased yeast from eating starch.....which I was able to cure by taking acidophilus capsules which I purchased from rite aide)

severe headaches/migrane

anemia

weight gain (at least a pound a day from eating a full box of starch/ 3500 calories = 1lb) - gained about 60lbs in 2 mths

lack of energy

severe depression

sore/patchy/bleeding tongue and roof of mouth

terrible terrible dandruff and flaky skin (on my face) - eyebrows, nose, every part of my face would be dry and flaky. I had to literally check myself in the mirror before I went anywhere to make sure flakes of skin were not hanging off.

I found going cold turkey is the hardest thing to do, but I don't have any other option. There isn't a 'cure' for this. Ive been taking high doses of iron which have not decreased my cravings at all. However, the side effect of NOT eating starch have been very noticible in the short time Ive been without.

My dandruff has completely stopped. My face is no longer dry and flaky....its very moisturized and my T-zone is back to it's overly oily self, I feel very energized and am not depressed, NO MORE HEADACHES/MIGRANES my mouth is 98% healed from the oral thrush and the pain...no more bleeding either and best of all....I'm not gaining 1lb a day. Simply cutting out the starch consumption, I stand to lose 1lb a day.

All I can say is that it is so hard. I've searched the internet high and low for side effects and no site has anything on the subject regarding side effects and most say that there are none. But Im here to tell you, anything in excess can be bad for you and I am a personal witness. I have to daily remind myself about the status of my health while eating starch and after the fact in order to convince myself not to buy it. The benefits truly outweigh the addiction, but you'll always be in recovery. Dont let yourself be tepmpted by just one bite....that's all it takes to lure you back into the unforgiving and sickly addictive starch consumption.

Arrowroot or various types of flour such as wheat flour or pea flour. A lump of very cold butter stirred in after having taken the sauce from the oven

I once used coffee mate in a pinch - it worked very well.

using tapioca,the instant kind,is great to addat the beginning .stir ocassionaly.is real good when making stews and such in a slow cooker.

You can also mash together room temperature butter and flour in equal portions to make a paste. Then stir small amounts of this paste into the sauce and let it simmer a bit until it's the consistancy you want.

i have celiac disease and cannot use wheat flour for thickening sauces and gravies. i have found that rice flour is far superior for thickening such items. it does not have the tendency to clump as wheat flour does, and makes beautiful, silky sauces and gravies. my sister started using it in place of wheat flour, even tho she does not have issues with wheat. i usually mix it with a bit of the sauce liquid first, but it is not really necessary. also no need to brown in fat before adding liquid. one suggestion, use less than you would regular flour, and add a bit more if needed.