388 
RURAL HOURS. 
din" ; "riddle-cakes, made Avith e""s and milk ; hoe-cake, or In- 
dian bread, baked in shallow pans ; samp or hominy, corn coaree- 
ly broken and boiled ; Jonikin, thin, Avafer-like sheets, toasted on 
a board ; these are all eaten at breakfast, AA'ith butter. Then avc 
haA'e the tender young ears, boiled as a A'cgetable ; or the young 
grain mixed AA’ith beans, forming the common Indian dish of suc- 
cotash ; the kernel is also dried, and then thoroughly boiled for a 
Avinter A’egetable. Again, Are haA’e also Indian puddings, and 
dumplings, and sometimes lighter cakes for more delicate dishes. 
The meal is also frequently mixed Avith wheat in country-made 
bread, making it A’ery SAveet and nAitritious. Besides these differ- 
ent ways of cooking the maize, Ave should not forget parched or 
“ popped” corn, in Avhich the children delight so much ; and a 
A'ery nice thing it is when the right kind of corn is used, and the 
glossy yellow husk cracks without burning, and the kernel burets 
through pure, and Avhite, and nicely toasted. A great deal of 
popped corn is noAV used in NeAv York and Philadelphia by the 
confectioners, who make it up into sugar-plums, like pralines 
Acres of “ popping corn” are noAV raised near the large towns, 
expressly for this purpose ; the A’arieties called rice-corn, and 
Egyptian corn, are used, the last kind being a natiA’e of this coun- 
try, like the others. 
The word sapaen has sometimes been supposed of Indian origin. 
It is not found in any dictionary that aa’C knoAA’ of, though in A’ery 
common use in some parts of the country. Vanderdonck speaks 
of the dish ■* “ Their common food, and for AA’hich their meal is 
generally used, ispa^j, or mush, which in the NeAV Netherlands is 
named sapaen. This is so common among the Indians that they 
♦ In 1653. 
