Samp, or Hulled Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Soak and hull
Place the corn in a large pot and cover it with water.
Add the hardwood ashes to the pot.
Soak the corn for a while, then boil until the hulls come off easily.
Rinse and finish
Wash the corn in cold water to remove the taste of potash.
Boil the corn again until the kernels are soft.
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
- Corn
- Provides the starchy kernels that soften during boiling to become the dish.
- Hardwood ashes
- Supplies alkaline potash that loosens the hulls and softens the kernels.
The step that matters
Rinse the corn in cold water. Potash left on the kernels gives a bitter, soapy, alkaline taste. Thorough rinsing removes the residual alkali so the corn tastes clean before the final boil.
“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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