Cornmeal Mush from Phillis Pellman Good
Mush is one dish that has survived form the colonial days with little change or adaptation. Filling and satisfying, it is still eaten on winter mornings in many Amish households.Although most mush is made now from store-bought, roasted cornmeal, traditionally the corn was roasted at home. In the fall, choice ears of field corn were picked and cleaned, then put into the bakeoven for roasting when the bread- and pie-baking was finished. In later years it was roasted in the cookstove, although that stove was much smaller than the bakeoven, casting some doubt on the efficiency of such an operation.One Amish grandfather remembers, “We would dry the corn on the roof of one of the out-buildings, then bring it in to roast in the oven of the cookstove. We would shell it after it got to be a nice brown, either with a corn sheller or by hand as we sat around in the evening.” The shelled kernels were taken to a mill to be ground into cornmeal flour.Mush is eaten in two forms. The first is when it is pudding-like, immediately after it has boiled to the proper thickness. Family tradition and personal preference determine the time of day when it is eaten and what one mixes with it. Said one, “At home we ate mush for lunch—thick with sugar or molasses and milk. We used to dip our spoons into the molasses, then drain it off over the mush, trying to write words with the molasses!” Said another, “We always had mush in the evening, before it ‘set up,’ with milk and brown sugar.”After it cools for several hours, mush can be sliced or fried. Some families made a batch big enough to last for several days. “We’d eat the first mush on Mondays for supper. Then we would have it fried the rest of the week for breakfast.”Mush in this form is seldom eaten alone. “For breakfast we often had mush and puddin’s . And fried potatoes with an egg scrambled in the middle.” But the cook in a non-dairy farm family explained, “I make mush and eggs in the evening because we don’t milk cows here. So we aren’t that hungry in the morning, and it feels better to eat that kind of thing in the evening. For us it’s a winter meal, for a change, at suppertime.”Some old-time mush-eaters like horseradish with each bite of fried mush. Others prefer ketchup, while others choose molasses.
Ingrediënten
- 1 quart cold water
- 1 quart boiling water
- 2 cups roasted yellow cornmeal
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructies
- Put the cold water in a bowl.
- Combine the cornmeal and salt and stir into the cold water.
- Bring the other quart of water to a boil.
- Slowly add the cornmeal and cold water mixture to it, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
- When smooth, cover and cook slowly for 1–3 hours, so the mush “glops” slowly.
- Stir frequently to keep from sticking to bottom of pan.
- Serve.
- Pour balance into loaf pans to mold.
- Let set until cool.
- Place in refrigerator for several hours until it is fully congealed.
- Cut into ¼-inch thick slices and fry in margarine, butter, or lard until brown.
- Turn and brown on the other side until crisp.
- Serve.
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