Cornmeal Mush
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mush
Bring water to a rolling boil.
Sprinkle in cornmeal slowly while stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
Simmer
After 15 minutes of boiling and stirring, reduce heat and cover, stirring occasionally.
Do not stir during the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Cook for a total of 45 minutes.
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 in hot water and thickens the liquid into a soft, porridge-like mush.
The step that matters
Sprinkling in the cornmeal slowly. Dry cornmeal clumps when it hits hot liquid, as the outer grains gel and trap dry centres. Adding it slowly while stirring constantly spreads the grains out so they hydrate evenly and the mush stays smooth.
“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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