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Post by spence on Jun 15, 2022 16:50:25 GMT -7
How things evolve. I was a depression baby, my parents had a rough way of it for several years. Occasionally cornmeal mush was for dinner, nothing else. Some people in that situation wind up hating the food involved, but I wasn't that smart. I always liked it, still do. I've occasionally fried up some mush/hasty pudding to take on a trek, it works very well. Of course you can easily boil up some plain mush in camp with little trouble. For me, what started as true survival food wound up decades later as pretend survival food. Ain't life funny. It was a happy day when I found the 1796 poem by Joel Barlow, Hasty Pudding. I shared his enthusiasm. Anyone else enjoy it? The poem, that is. I found it quite educational, a nice glimpse into rural life in late 18th-century New England. Spence
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Post by brokennock on Jun 15, 2022 17:09:44 GMT -7
Started reading it just now. Will see if I get through it before the melatonin kicks in....
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Post by artificer on Jun 16, 2022 13:12:47 GMT -7
How things evolve. I was a depression baby, my parents had a rough way of it for several years. Occasionally cornmeal mush was for dinner, nothing else. Some people in that situation wind up hating the food involved, but I wasn't that smart. I always liked it, still do. I've occasionally fried up some mush/hasty pudding to take on a trek, it works very well. Of course you can easily boil up some plain mush in camp with little trouble. For me, what started as true survival food wound up decades later as pretend survival food. Ain't life funny. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> It was a happy day when I found the 1796 poem by Joel Barlow, Hasty Pudding. I shared his enthusiasm. Anyone else enjoy it? The poem, that is. I found it quite educational, a nice glimpse into rural life in late 18th-century New England. Spence Wow, I have to sheepishly admit I did not know that English Hasty Pudding (made from ground wheat) was changed here in the colonies early in the 17th century to using ground corn meal. I always knew it as cornmeal mush and I still LOVE it today, even though like Spence, it was often the only thing we had for supper. Add a little butter and clear Karo Syrup to fried mush and that's a little piece of Heaven. My Maternal Grandmother often made it for us, after she moved in with us when I was about 4 years old. I enjoyed the poem and really wish I would have known about it in 10th grade English Composition class. A poem that goes into that much detail about an extremely common thing, was right up my line even then. OK, that got me to wondering if there was a period name for fried potatoes and eggs with a little onion mixed in while frying the potatoes and before one adds the whisked eggs to the mixture to fry? We often had that as the only thing for supper as well and I still love it. I do add mushrooms when I make it nowadays, though. Gus
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Post by brokennock on Jun 16, 2022 13:54:47 GMT -7
How things evolve. I was a depression baby, my parents had a rough way of it for several years. Occasionally cornmeal mush was for dinner, nothing else. Some people in that situation wind up hating the food involved, but I wasn't that smart. I always liked it, still do. I've occasionally fried up some mush/hasty pudding to take on a trek, it works very well. Of course you can easily boil up some plain mush in camp with little trouble. For me, what started as true survival food wound up decades later as pretend survival food. Ain't life funny. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> It was a happy day when I found the 1796 poem by Joel Barlow, Hasty Pudding. I shared his enthusiasm. Anyone else enjoy it? The poem, that is. I found it quite educational, a nice glimpse into rural life in late 18th-century New England. Spence Wow, I have to sheepishly admit I did not know that English Hasty Pudding (made from ground wheat) was changed here in the colonies early in the 17th century to using ground corn meal. I always knew it as cornmeal mush and I still LOVE it today, even though like Spence, it was often the only thing we had for supper. Add a little butter and clear Karo Syrup to fried mush and that's a little piece of Heaven. My Maternal Grandmother often made it for us, after she moved in with us when I was about 4 years old. I enjoyed the poem and really wish I would have known about it in 10th grade English Composition class. A poem that goes into that much detail about an extremely common thing, was right up my line even then. OK, that got me to wondering if there was a period name for fried potatoes and eggs with a little onion mixed in while frying the potatoes and before one adds the whisked eggs to the mixture to fry? We often had that as the only thing for supper as well and I still love it. I do add mushrooms when I make it nowadays, though. Gus Not sure about a period name for your egg dish but I make similar frequently. It reminds me of what Jack Kerouac called "slumgullion" (not sure on the spelling) in his book, The Darma Bums. (Been several years since I've reread it.)
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Post by spence on Jun 16, 2022 16:42:56 GMT -7
I've noticed before that people in the 18th and 19th century seemed to like poetry. It shows up in runaway ads, in last will and testaments, and in conversation about food. Many are done by amateurs, but well known literary types also get into the game. Another one about food which I found is by William Makepeace Thackeray, known for Vanity Fair, The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., and the one we tend to favor, The Luck of Barry Lyndon.
Poem to Curry William Makepeace Thackeray (1846)
Three pounds of veal my darling girl prepares,
And chops it nicely into little squares;
Five onions next procures the little minx,
(The biggest are the best, her Samiwel thinks),
And Epping butter nearly half a pound,
And stews them in a pan until they’re brown’d.
What's next my dexterous little girl will do? She pops the meat into the savoury stew,
With curry-powder table-spoonfuls three,
And milk a pint (the richest that may be),
And, when the dish has stewed for half an hour,
A lemon’s ready juice she’ll o’er it pour.
Then, bless her! Then she gives the luscious pot
A very gentle boil – and serves quite hot.
PS – Beef, mutton, rabbit, if you wish,
Lobsters, or prawns, or any kind fish,
Are fit to make a CURRY.‘Tis, when done,
A dish for Emperors to feed upon.
Spence
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Post by brokennock on Jun 16, 2022 17:40:29 GMT -7
I really like that poem about curry, though it seems a less than ideal recipe, lol. And I am enjoying taking my time reading, the 1796 poem by Joel Barlow, Hasty Pudding, a bit at a time. Thank you for providing the impetus to do so.
Pardon my ignorance, but given my family's cultural background, the closest I think I've had to "mush," or corn "hasty pudding," is polenta and/or grits (fork, not spoon), so I am wondering what the difference is between these dishes?
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Post by spence on Jun 16, 2022 18:34:52 GMT -7
I think mush is polenta. You will get to a section of The Hasty Pudding where he gives the names it goes by in different countries.
Spence
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Post by Black Hand on Jun 17, 2022 3:54:21 GMT -7
Pardon my ignorance, but given my family's cultural background, the closest I think I've had to "mush," or corn "hasty pudding," is polenta and/or grits (fork, not spoon), so I am wondering what the difference is between these dishes? Not much, if you omit the butter/truffle oil/other added to the polenta/grits at the end. Polenta is essentially cornmeal, while grits are usually cornmeal made from hominy. In the woods, I've made a mush that includes dried vegetables (carrots, onions & tomato paste) as well as bacon and/or sausage all cooked in water flavored with bullion. Delicious and nutritious!
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Post by spence on Aug 11, 2022 13:18:56 GMT -7
I enjoy browsing thru my files. I've been collecting items for so long I've forgotten much of what is in them, so I'm frequently pleasantly surprised what I find. One of the advantage of old age, you get to enjoy stuff more than once, fresh and new every time. It's a mystery when I collected this neat little culinary poem, but it seems appropriate for this thread.
Receipt for all Young Ladies that are going to be married, to make Sack Posset:
From fam’d Barbados on the western Main Fetch sugar half a pound; fetch Sack from Spain A Pint, and from the East Indian Coast Nutmeg, the Glory of our Northern Toast. O’er flaming Coals together let them heat, Till the all conquering Sack dissolve the Sweet. O’er such another Fire set Eggs twice ten, New born foot of Cock and Rump of Hen; Stir them with steady Hand, and Conscience pricking, To see th’s untimely Fate of Twenty Chicken. From shining Shelf take down your brazen Skillet, A quart of milk gentle Cow will fill it, When boil’d and cool’d put milk and Sack to Egg. Unite them finely like the triples League; Then covered close, together let them dwell Till Miss twice sings–You must not Kiss and tell. Each Lad and Lass snatch up their murdering Spoon, And fall fiercely like a Starved Dragoon.
Source: The Boston Weekly Post-Boy, 1743
Spence
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