Cornmeal Mush for Frying
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mush
Mix the cornmeal, salt, and flour in a bowl.
Gradually stir in the cold water.
Slowly add this mixture to the boiling water, stirring continuously.
Pour the mixture into a wet bread pan and let it cool.
Slice and brown
Once cool, cut into 4-inch slices.
Brown the slices in a little hot fat.
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
- Forms the thick body of the mush as its starches gelatinize in boiling water.
- Flour
- Adds extra starch that helps the mush set firm enough to slice.
- Boiling water
- Cooks the cornmeal and flour starches, turning the mixture thick and smooth.
The step that matters
Slowly add the mixture to the boiling water while stirring continuously. Adding the cold cornmeal slurry gradually while stirring keeps the starch dispersed. Dumping it in at once lets lumps form that cook unevenly and leave a grainy texture.
“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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