The Washington herald., 1912-04-23
HOMINY DELICIOUS
IF WE'LL COOKED
Each Grain Should Be Soft and
Stand Alone.

1t would puzzle Philadelphia lawyer
why IN one portion Of country one sort
OF a manufacture FROM so universal a
product as Indian corn should be used
and in another portion be almost unheard
Of
In New England yellow cornmeal and
hulled corn-the lated called hominy, or
samp. IN the south-are the two products
in general use. and they have been held
in high esteem. From the yellow corn
meal is made the famous Boston brown
bread. the favorite johnnycake. the jolly
hasty pudding. or mush. and the dainty
and noted Indian pudding.
The hulIed corn peddlers' used TO go
around once or twice a week In warm
weather. and their product was eaten
with milk for supper when dinners were
in the middle of the day. The hulled
corn took. the place in summer Of the
nush, which was winter dish.
Much Used in the south.
The South seorns yellow cornmeal. but
white eornmeal and hominy-''bIg hom-
my and small homInyr-are standing
supplies The big or lye hominy used to
be sold itinerantly. as in the North. The
manufactured product nearest to this is
the pearl hominy, which requires days
cooking.
However, the great reliance Of this
section is upon ''gritsn and the small
hominy which comes from these. II Is
in daily use for breakfast. boiled. eaten
with gravy or with butter and salt.
What Is left over Is fried for lunch. or.
In croquette making regions. made into
croquettes. following the recipe for rice
croquettes.
In the region half way between East
and South, but reckoned as of the latter
section. hog and hominy" has been
the great staple. There must be some
picturesque history connected with this
diet but q United States government
bulletin speaks OF this prosaically as fol-
lows:
Among the negroes and mountain
whites OF the Southeastern United States
large quantities Of corn are used in COM
blnation with salt pork. sirup or mo-
lasses, milk, some wheat -four, and more
or less green vegetables and fruit. The
common designation. hog and hominy,'
points out the leading features Of this
diet. and suggests its faults. How
much can be attributed to q lack of
protein and too great q proportion Of
fats and carbohydrates. and how much
20 poor cooking. mQnotonous fare. and
generally unhygienic living conditions, II
would be hard to say"
Used as Cereal I'm North.
In the northern part OF our country
the small. is mostly used as a
cereal. eaten with sugar. and rarely In
any other way except fried. In cooking
II for this use. 1t Is well TO follow the
directions on the packaee and soak the
hominy overnight. What Is left over
should be carefully packed. nodded In a
square dish first wet with cold water.
and before being cut for frying or for
toasting under the Eriddle the skin which
forms over II should be removed.
The bulletin quoted above has the fol-
lowing to say:
''Hominy and samp. which are much
coarser than meal require longer cook
Ing. and for this reason are often con-
sidered less convenient than other sim
liar cereals. The very coarse horniny is
not an economical dish where cooking is
done on a gas stove and fire must be
kept especially for Il. but in households
where the range Is hot all day a dish
Of II In a double boiler at the back of
the stove viii almost cook itself. SUM-
cient water Is important In cooking hom-
my and samp. as the grain. IL not con-
stantly covered with water. makes the
dish gummy and unattractive. To be
properly cooked, each grain OF hominy,
though soft, should retain its distinct
form, as is the case with well cooked
rice"