(>^ NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



IX FOODS PREPARED FROM CORN 



Leaf bread tamales, onia"tci'da'. This is prepared from gree 

 corn. The kernels are cut or scraped from the cob and beaten 

 a milky paste in a mortar. The corn used for leaf cake tamal< 

 should be too hard for green corn good for boiling and eating o 

 the cob. The paste will then be of the proper consistency. Tl 

 paste is patted into shape and laid in a strip on one end of a broj 

 corn leaf, the free half being doubled over the paste. Other leave 

 are folded over the first, the ends all projecting uniformly froi 

 one end for tying. The onia'^tci'da' was then tied three time 

 laterally and once transversely and dropped into boiling wate 

 When cooked — cooking requires about 45 minutes — the wraj 

 pings are removed and the cake is eaten with sunflower or bear oi 

 though in these modern days bacon grease or butter are more i 

 vogue. Oftentimes cooked beans are mixed with the mass befor 

 wrapping in the leaves. These impart their flavor and give variet; 



Leaf cakes may be dried for winter's use if no beans have bee 

 used with the corn. In wrapping the leaf bread a bulbous shape 

 bundle is made resembling a large braid of hair doubled and tiec 

 hence the name onia"tci'da', derived from yenya'tci'dot, double 

 braid of woman's hair. 



Heckewelder^ describes this bread but says it is too sweet a! 

 thong'h the Indians consider it a delicate morsel. He says th 

 mashed green corn is put in the corn blades with ladles. 



Adair^ in describing it remarks, " This sort of bread is ver 

 tempting to the taste, and reckoned most delicious by their stron 

 palates." 



David DeVries^ writing of the dish says, " They make flat cake 

 of meal mixed with water, as large as a farthing cake in thi 

 country, and bake them in the ashes, first wrapping a vine or maiz 

 leaf around them. 



Sagard in describing leaf cakes says that the Huron called 

 Andataroni. He describes the process of preparing it substantial! 

 as given above. He mentions that berries and beans are oftei 

 added.* 



1 Heckewelder, p. 195. 



2 Adair. North American Indians. 



3 Second Voyage. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Col. Ser. 2. v. 3, pt i, p. 107 

 Cf. Vincent. History of Delaware. Phila. 1870. p. 74. 



* Grand Voyage. Tross ed. p. 96. 



