IngredientsFlour & grainEasy to get wrong
Die Fallethe trap
Fécula means starch, harina means flour. Harina de maíz is ground corn: it clouds a sauce and turns it gritty instead of binding it.
Fécula de maíz is pure corn starch. The box usually says Maizena, which is what cooks call it.
Stärke ist nicht gleich Stärkenot every starch is the same
Corn starch binds later, wants more heat and stays milky. Potato starch binds earlier and stays clear.
For sauces, Rote Grütze and puddings take fécula de maíz. For tart glaze, for dumplings and for anything that has to stay glassy, hunt down fécula de papa.
In Mexikoin Mexico
Fécula de maíz is in every supermarket, usually with the baking goods or next to the powdered milk.
The potato kind is rarely there. Baking supply shops and Mercado Libre carry it.
Vorsichtwatch out
Starch lumps the moment it hits hot liquid dry. Stir it smooth in cold water, cold milk or cold juice first.
Then pour it into the boiling pot, stir, and let it come up once. Only then does it bind properly.