3SS 



DOMESTIC ECOXOiTT. 



[Chap. IV. 



Perhaps the reason why the use of corn hread is going out of fashion in 

 tliis region, Avhicli is in the very center of the great corn belt, may lie found 

 in the fact that so many lioii.seholds are now served hy cooks wh-o were not 

 horn in a corn-growing country, and who seem incapable of learning that 

 corn meal is not fit to eat in a semi-raw state. If they nudce it into mu^li, 

 they only scald it. If they mix it into bread, they insist upon its being done 

 as soon as it is heated through. Learn, then, that corn meal can not be 

 cooked too much — it seldom is enough. The best corn bread we ever ate 

 was from meal well kneaded with nothing but water and a little salt, and 

 then made into lumps about the size and somewhat the shape of a man's foot, 

 and raked in the embers just like potatoes to roast, and there allowed to 

 remain and cook all night. The next best corn bread is the old-style johnny- 

 cake, mixed in the same way, and patted about three-quarters of an inch 

 thick upon a board, and roasted before an exceedingly hot fire. 



The next best are the " corn-dodgers" of the Southwest, mixed like the 

 first^ and baked in an iron bake-pan, standing on hot coals, with hot coals 

 on the lid. These dodgers are usually of two to four pounds weight, and 

 when brought hot to the table are certainly good bread. They are much 

 eaten cold, but we can not recommend them in that condition, only as being 

 infinitely better than the half-baked corn bread common at the North! 



All the improvements of corn bread ever attempted by adding other 

 ingredients have failed, to our taste, to produce an article equal to a M'elh 

 baked asli-cidce or corn-dodger. 



Remember the three grand secrets about making good corn bread : never 

 to grind your meal very fine, always to have it fresh ground, and never fear 

 baking it too much. All corn bread should be cooked a 

 negroes often bury the dough in the hot embers all night. 



One of the most common objections to the use of corn bread is its sup- 

 posed indigestibility. On account of this character, which it has obtained, 

 as we think, unjustly, it is avoided by many people who are of a dyspeptic 

 habit. "We think there is a mistake in ascribing this character to corn bread 

 indiscriminately. If Indian corn meal is not thoroughly cooked, it is indi- 

 gestible — more so, perhaps, than any other grain. But such bread as that 

 above described as ash-cakes or corn-dodgers, we do not believe indigestible. 

 We have often eaten corn-cakes, made purposely for a severe affliction of 

 indigestion, and found them better than any other kind of bread. These 

 were made of meal and water and salt only, and patted out into the size 

 and thickness of Boston crackers, and most thoroughly baked in a quick 

 oven. See Section XXIV. 



long time. The 



