Cornmeal Mush with Pork
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Adapted from 'Corn-Meal Mush with Pork' — Farmers' Bulletin 565, 'Corn Meal as a Food and Ways of Using It,' USDA, issued Jan. 22, 1914, revised Sept. 1917 (public domain, U.S. federal work). Measures and oven temperatures modernized. Naturally gluten-free as published.
Pork is simmered until tender, its broth is used to cook cornmeal mush, and the chopped meat is packed back into the mush. Chilled, sliced, and fried, it is the direct ancestor of scrapple — made with cornmeal alone.
Why this complexity: Needs a full chill to set before slicing; Two-stage cooking: simmer meat, then cook mush in the broth.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean pork, part meat and part bone (such as pork shoulder with bone)
- Water, to cook the pork (about 5 cups)
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered sage
- Butter or oil, for frying the slices
Method
- Cover the pork with water and simmer until the meat comes easily from the bone, about 1 1/2 hours. Lift out the meat.
- Cool the broth and skim off the fat. Measure the broth and add water to make about 4 cups; bring it back to a boil.
- Rain in the cornmeal, stirring constantly, and cook until thick, about 20 minutes.
- Chop the meat fine, removing bone and gristle, and stir it into the mush with the salt and sage.
- Pack into a greased loaf pan, cover, and chill until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Cut into 1/2-inch slices and fry in a little butter or oil until crisp and brown on both sides. Serve hot.
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Testimony
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