Cornmeal Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gruel
Mix cornmeal and salt with enough cold water to make a smooth paste.
Slowly add the mixture to boiling water.
Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Creamier version
For a creamier version, use half a pint of water and half a pint of milk instead.
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
- Cornmeal
- Its starch swells and thickens the liquid as it cooks, giving the gruel body.
- Milk
- Adds fat and milk proteins, making the gruel richer and creamier.
The step that matters
Slowly add the mixture to boiling water.. Starch granules disperse best when the cornmeal paste is added gradually to hot liquid while stirring. Dumping it in at once lets clumps form before the starch can spread evenly and thicken.
“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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