Farina (food)

Not to be confused with the Brazilian farinha, a flour made from thecassavaroot.

Farina

Type	Cereal
Course	Breakfast
Serving temperature	Warm
Main ingredients	Wheat
Media: Farina

Farinais a form of milledwheatpopular in the United States. It is often cooked as a hotbreakfast cereal,orporridge.The wordfarinacomes from theLatinword for 'meal' or 'flour'.

Farina may also be cooked likepolentaandfarofa,which are made with ground corn and ground cassava, respectively. Farina with milk and sugar is sometimes used for making creams for layered cakes. Farina can be used as a substitute forbread crumbsin sweet and meat pies (to absorb excess water). It can also be used to prevent dough from sticking to baking surfaces via the baking process, leaving residual farina on the bottom of the final product.

Farina is acarbohydrate-rich food. When enriched with iron, it can be a significant source of dietaryiron,especially for vegetarian diets. Popular brands offer up to 50% of the recommendeddaily valueof iron in a single 500-kilojoule (120-kilocalorie) serving. In commercially available farina, thebranand most of thegermare removed.Cream of Wheat,Malt-O-Meal,and Farina Mills are popular brand names of breakfast cereal. To augment its mild taste, popular add-ins to cooked farina include brown or granular sugar, maple syrup, honey, molasses, fruit, nuts, cinnamon, butter, grated chocolate, jams, milk, and salt.

See also

• Wheatena
• Semolina
• List of porridges