This article is part of
Wilderness Way
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4.
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Corn
The Golden Treasure
by J. B. Fuller, Jr.
When the Europeans first arrived in North America, they anticipated a speedier trade route to the Orient and wealth. One of the greatest discoveries that they made was not wealth derived from gold or a route to the Orient, but was in the form of a simple grain known universally as maize-known to us as corn. It was a treasure beyond description, and was grown by native people throughout the continent. It was everything a grain could be. It was easy to grow in a variety of climates, required little cultivation, and was prolific and stored well. It could be eaten fresh in a variety of ways or dried and ground to use as bread. A process of soaking it in wood ashes provided yet another method of utilizing corm as a foodstuff known as hominy. It was the proverbial "staff of life" for countless generations of humans.
As
a young southern boy growing up in a rural area, I was
frequently in the woods or camping along the Coosa River of
Alabama. In those days, most of the camping books were
outdated written by writers of pre-depression America, and
it would be years before the modern outdoor movement would
be born. We were encouraged to carry beans, bacon, and
bannock into the woods and on our forays down the rivers
with us. I was always pressing my mother for recipes that I
could cook in the woods that would be easy and
transportable. On longer trips, I would always carry dried
beans or peas that could be reconstituted by soaking
overnight. The resulting dish was always wonderful and was a
great break from our typical camp fare.
As
a young teenager, I once theorized that if beans and peas
could be reconstituted, so could corn. It only made sense. I
soaked the corn overnight, and cooked it for an extremely
long time over the fire. The resulting dish was so hard that
only cattle and horses could have managed to eat it. It was,
like so many of my early experiments, a dismal failure.
After that, I wrote corn off as being only suitable for
cornmeal or to be eaten fresh.
Much
later in life, I was reading everything I could find on the
Southern Indian tribes, and came across a rather obscure
little Indian cookbook-more like a pamphlet. There was a
very brief description of smoking corn to dry it. It was
then possible to reconstitute the corn by cooking it. It was
quite some time before I tried it. I had long since lost the
cookbook, but my experiment proved to be a success. It is a
great way to try some "Indian Gold," and the
product is light, transportable, and is able to transform a
boring outdoor meal into a feast.
Use
fresh corn, what we refer to in the south as "roasting
ears." Peal the husks back, being careful not to break
them off the ears. Remove as much of the silk as possible.
Then, dunk the ears into boiling water for a half-minute or
so, holding them by the husks. Lay aside to drain for a
short time. After draining, gather two to four ears, and tie
the husks together. Hang the husks over a slow fire, smoky
with a low heat, for two to four days. Take them in at
night, or cover then with a tarp to prevent contact with dew
or wetness. Once they are fully dried, they will be
shriveled, and the kernels can be shelled from the cob for
storage. When I cook these dried kernels, I like to boil
them for a couple of minutes; allow to soak for about a
half-hour; and add them to the dish I am cooking. They will
reconstitute almost like whole kernel corn, but will remain
slightly shriveled. They will be soft and entirely edible,
however, exactly like the canned varieties that we are all
familiar with.
Alternate Method
Follow the directions as stated above, but dry in
a food dehydrator or an oven on the "warm
setting." The taste is slightly different, but the
finished product is highly suitable.
