Farina (food)

Farina is the name given to a form of milled wheat in the United States of America. The word "farina" is Latin, meaning meal or flour and the Italian and Catalan word for flour. It is made from wheat middlings: the germ and endosperm of the grain, which are milled to a fine consistency and then sifted.
Farina is often prepared as hot cereal (porridge). It may also be cooked like polenta and farofa. Farina with milk and sugar is sometimes used for making creams for layered cakes. Farina can be used as a substitute for bread crumbs in 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 a carbohydrate-rich food. When enriched, it is one of the best sources of dietary iron available, especially for vegetarian diets. Popular brands offer up to 50% of the recommended daily value of iron in a single serving. In commercially available farina the bran and most of the germ are 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 sugar, maple, honey, nuts, cinnamon, butter, grated chocolate, jams, and salt.