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Fried Mush

A cornmeal loaf cooked in boiling water, cooled, sliced, and fried, served with maple syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Fried Mush

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cornmeal mush

  1. In a large kettle, bring 1 quart of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt.

  2. Sprinkle in Indian meal a handful at a time, stirring constantly to keep it boiling.

  3. Continue until the mixture is thick enough to hold a spoon upright, then cook for a few more minutes.

Set and slice

  1. Pour the mixture into a deep cake tin and let it cool overnight.

  2. The next morning, turn out the loaf and cut it into ½-inch thick slices.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat lard in a kettle until very hot, then fry the slices until stiff, about 10 minutes.

  2. Serve with maple syrup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Indian meal (cornmeal)
Forms the thick body of the cake as it cooks and sets into a firm loaf.
Lard for frying
Conducts heat to brown the slices and crisp their surface while the inside stays soft.

The step that matters

Cooling the mush overnight. The cooked cornmeal must cool and firm fully so the slices hold their shape; cutting or frying it too soon can cause it to crumble or fall apart.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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