Twelve Ways with Corn, 1794.

A missionary called George H. Loskiel famously recorded the ‘twelve different ways’ that the Delawares and Iroquois dressed ‘Indian corn’ (maize) in his book History of the Mission of the United Brethren Among the Indians in North America (1794). It remains a fine list of ideas for this amazing plant.

1. They boil it in the husk, till soft and fit to eat.
2. Parboil it, and having rubbed the husk off with sharp leys, wash and boil it over again.
3. They roast the whole ear in hot ashes, as it is taken from the stalk.
4. They pound it small, and then boil it soft.
5. They grind it as fine as flour by means of a wooden pestle and mortar, clear it from the husks, and make a thick pottage of it.
6. They knead the flour with cold water, and make cakes about a hand's breath, and an inch thick. These they inclose in leaves and bake in hot ashes, putting live coals upon them; and use them as bread.
7. They mix dried bilberries with the flour, to give the cakes a better relish.
8. They chop roasted or dried deer's-flesh, or smoked eels, into small pieces, and boil them with the corn.
9. They boil the grits made of it with fresh meat, and this is one of their most common meals, with which they eat the bread described above.
10. They roast the corn in hot ashes till it becomes thoroughly brown. Then they pound it to flour, mix it with sugar, and press it down forcibly into a bag. This serves for citamon.
11. They take the corn before it is ripe, and let it swell in boiling water. It is then dried and laid by for use. The white people buy it in this state to make soup of, or soak it again, and use it with oil and vinegar as salad.
12. They roast the whole ear, when grown, but still full of juice. This is a well- flavored dish, but wastes much corn. They therefore like to have their plantations at some distance from their dwellings, that they may not be tempted to waste so much, or at least increase the difficulty of getting it.

This list also perhaps gives us another forgotten food word – citamon. If any one out there has some other examples of its use, I would be most interested, because I have found no help from dictionaries. Loskiel himself elaborates elsewhere in the text, saying:

“The preparations for war are soon made: they do not carry much baggage; a bundle of citamon, as described above, consisting of pounded Indian corn and maple sugar, is all the provision they want.”

This sounds like a great recipe for pancake mix!

When Loskiel made his observations, the first genuine American cookbook had not yet been published. In 1798, Amelia Simmons (‘an orphan’) published her book American Cookery, or the art of dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables, and the best modes of making pastes, puffs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards, and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the imperial plum to plain cake: Adapted to this country, and all grades of life.

She gives three variations of Indian pudding, which is hasty pudding by another name.


A Nice Indian Pudding.

No. 1. 3 pints scalded milk, 7 spoons fine Indian meal, stir well together while hot, let stand till cooled; add 7 eggs, half pound raisins, 4 ounces butter, spice and sugar, bake one and half hour.

No. 2. 3 pints scalded milk to one pint meal salted; cool, add 2 eggs, 4 ounces butter, sugar or molasses and spice q: s: it will require two and half hours baking.

No. 3. Salt a pint of meal, wet with one quart milk, sweeten and put into a strong cloth, brass or bell metal vessel, stone or earthen pot, secure from wet and boil 12 hours.

More on this topic …

Other recipes from from Amelia Simmons that have appeared in this blog are:
Honey Cake

To dress a Beef-Stake, sufficient for two Gentlemen, with a fire made of two newspapers.


Election Cake


There is more on Hasty pudding HERE and HERE.


Quotation for the Day …

It is not elegant to gnaw Indian corn. The kernels should be scored with a knife, scraped off into the plate, and then eaten with a fork. Ladies should be particularly careful how they manage so ticklish a dainty, lest the exhibition rub off a little desirable romance.
Charles Day (1844)

A Mighty Spread.

April 2 ..

It is unarguable that Charles Dickens had a way with words – and a large number of his words concern food: his novels are wonderfully embellished and enriched with food incidents and food stories – as are his letters and journals.

On this day in 1842, he was in America, on his second day aboard the steamboat Messenger en route from Pittsburg to Cincinatti.

“We are to be on board the Messenger three days: arriving at Cincinnati (barring accidents) on Monday morning. There are three meals a day. Breakfast at seven, dinner at half-past twelve, supper about six. At each, there are a great many small dishes and plates upon the table, with very little in them; so that although there is every appearance of a mighty 'spread,' there is seldom really more than a joint: except for those who fancy slices of beet-root, shreds of dried beef, complicated entanglements of yellow pickle; maize, Indian corn, apple-sauce, and pumpkin. Some people fancy all these little dainties together (and sweet preserves beside), by way of relish to their roast pig. They are generally those dyspeptic ladies and gentlemen who eat unheard-of quantities of hot corn bread (almost as good for the digestion as a kneaded pin-cushion), for breakfast, and for supper. Those who do not observe this custom, and who help themselves several times instead, usually suck their knives and forks meditatively, until they have decided what to take next: then pull them out of their mouths: put them in the dish; help themselves; and fall to work again. At dinner, there is nothing to drink upon the table, but great jugs full of cold water. Nobody says anything, at any meal, to anybody. All the passengers are very dismal, and seem to have tremendous secrets weighing on their minds. There is no conversation, no laughter, no cheerfulness, no sociality, except in spitting; and that is done in silent fellowship round the stove, when the meal is over. Every man sits down, dull and languid; swallows his fare as if breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, were necessities of nature never to be coupled with recreation or enjoyment; and having bolted his food in a gloomy silence, bolts himself, in the same state. But for these animal observances, you might suppose the whole male portion of the company to be the melancholy ghosts of departed book-keepers, who had fallen dead at the desk: such is their weary air of business and calculation. Undertakers on duty would be sprightly beside them; and a collation of funeral-baked meats, in comparison with these meals, would be a sparkling festivity.”

The separate listing of ‘maize’ and ‘Indian corn’ is a little baffling, but what would a Victorian Englishman be expected to know about the strange American substitute for ‘English corn’ or wheat? Perhaps someone with more expertise in the maize department can shed some light on what two variations he might have seen on the table?

I do hope that Dickens had some better experiences with corn-bread at some other time during his stay. We have had several recipes for corn-bread in the past, so today I give you an alternative use for corn – perhaps Dickens would have enjoyed these fritters more than the bread?

Corn Fritters: American.
Take 12 small ears of corn, free from all silk; cut the grains down the centre, and scrape all the corn and milk off the cob; add about 2 table-spoonsful of flour, 2 eggs well beaten, pepper and salt to your taste, and mix the whole well together. Put a table-spoonful of this mixture at a time in a frying-pan with hot lard or butter; when brown, turn them, and serve them hot. If the corn is large it will require 3 eggs, if very milky, a little extra flour. It should be thicker than pancake batter; a hot fire will cook them in 5 minutes. They are excellent for breakfast, and may be mixed the night before. For dessert put in sugar instead of salt and pepper, and eat them with your favorite sauce.
[The ladies' new book of cookery … Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, 1852]

Tomorrow’s Story …

A Good Old Idea.

Quotation for the Day …

It is not elegant to gnaw Indian corn. The kernels should be scored with a knife, scraped off into the plate, and then eaten with a fork. Ladies should be particularly careful how they manage so ticklish a dainty, lest the exhibition rub off a little desirable romance. Charles Day, 1844.

Cornbread for Hard Times.

Today, February 9th …

Eleanor Roosevelt was for fifteen years (1946-1961) voted the world’s most popular woman. Her regular newspaper column “My Day” was published six days a week from 1935-1962 with the exception of four days after the death of her husband. Eleanor covered a huge range of topics in her columns from political to personal and global to local. On this day in 1946 she wrote of the post-war proposed voluntary ‘rationing’ of wheat.

“I am glad that the United States is going to help Europe by reducing its own food supply, and that conservation measures are being planned to increase the surplus wheat we can ship abroad. My mind reverts to the last war, when every housewife was asked to use cornmeal instead of flour for at least one meal every day. …. I still have many recipes for different types of cornbread which we used not only once a day, but often twice.

The suggestion has been made to me that, if we had smaller loaves of bread we might waste less, for a large loaf often becomes stale before we have used all of it. Because it is no longer good for table use and because the sugar shortage now makes it difficult to use stale bread for puddings or desserts, we throw it away. I’m sure that, if we were given a really true picture of the situation in many nations – such as Italy, which has been clamouring for a higher bread ration for a long time – we would gladly co-operate by using smaller loaves.”

Many young housewives must have drawn on the First World War experiences of their mothers and grandmothers as to how to substitute for wheat in their recipes in 1946. The problem when substituting other grains and cereals for wheat in bread recipes is that only wheat contains sufficient gluten to give bread its characteristic structure. Gluten is a protein formed in wheat flour when water is added, and its long molecules form a firm elastic mesh which gives bread both its solidity and its lightness (by trapping air bubbles). Bread made with other grains may be very tasty, but without the gluten it has a more ‘cakey’ and soft texture.

Perhaps Eleanor was familiar with ‘Daily Menus for War Service’, by Thetta Quay Franks, published in 1918? It contained many recipes for 100% wheatless ‘War Breads’ from sources such as the Conservation Food Show, the U.S Food Administration, Farmers’ Bulletins and the Columbia War Papers.

Corn Bread.
Cornmeal, 1 cup; Baking powder, 2 teaspoons; Sugar, ½ tablespoon; Salt, ½ teaspoon;
Sweet Milk, 1 cup; Fat, 1 tablespoon; Egg, ½.
Mix dry ingredients. Add milk, well-beaten egg, and melted fat. Beat well. Bake in a shallow pan for about 5 minutes. Yield: 1 pan, 9 by 9.

Corn Bread with Barley Flour.
Cornmeal, 1 cup; Barley Flour, 1 cup; Molasses, 4 tablespoons; Baking powder, 6 teaspoons; Salt, 1 teaspoon; Milk, 1 cup; Egg, 1; Fat, 2 tablespoons.
Sift dry ingredients together; add milk, beaten egg, and melted fat. Stir well. Put into greased pan, allow to stand in warm place 20 to 25 minutes and bake in a moderate oven 40 t0 45 minutes. Yield: 1 loaf, 4 by 12 inches.

Corn Muffins.
Cornmeal, 1 cup; Pastry flour (sifted) ½ cup; Sugar, ¼ cup; Salt, 1 teaspoon; Baking Powder, 2 teaspoons; Milk, 1 cup; Melted butter, 2 tablespoons.
Mix dry ingredients and add milk and butter. Put in greased muffin pan and bake 30 minutes in a moderate oven. Yield: 10 muffins.

Monday’s Story …

The Battle of the Herrings.

A Previous Story for this Day …

We considered 16th C bishops and cardoons on this day last year.

Quotation for the Day …

Nothing in the whole range of domestic life more affects the health and happiness of the family than the quality of its daily bread. Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book. 1884