Title: Boiled Corn Bread ... Gaha'`gu'`gwa'
Categories: Bread Amerind Grain
Yield: 1 Servings

KEYWORDS: WALNUT, CORN, AI
		Corn, hulled and washed
		Water
		Currants, optional
		Walnuts or Butternuts, optional
		Berries or Beans, of choice

After the corn has been hulled and washed, it is placed in the mortar and pounded to a meal or flour. As the pounding progresses the fine sifting basket is frequently brought into requisition. The hand is used to dip the meal out of the mortar into the sifter. The large bread pan is often set on top of the mortar and the sifter shaken in both hands. The coarser particles are thrown into a second bowl or tray and are finally dumped back into the mortar to be repounded. A hollow is next made in the flour and enough boiling water poured into it to make a stiff paste. Usage differs somewhat in this respect, cold water being used by some for mixing. The stirring paddle is often employed at first, after which the paste is kneaded with the hands. Dried huckleberries, blackberries, elderberries, strawberries, or beans may be incorporated in the mixture, beans apparently enjoying the greatest favour. The latter are previously cooked just so that they will remain whole or nearly so. Currants or raisins are sometimes used at present. Formerly the kernels of walnuts and butternuts were employed in the same way. A lump of paste is next broken off, or about a double handful. This is tossed in the hands, which are kept moistened with cold water, until it becomes rounded in form; the surplus material forms a core at one side, usually the right, and is finally broken off. The lump is now slapped back and forth between the palms, though resting rather more on the left hand; and is at the same time given a rotary motion until a disk is formed about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inches thick and about 7 inches in diameter. Boiling water for mixing is stated to make the cakes firmer and better to handle. No salt* nor other such ingredients are used. The loaves are immediately slid into a pot of boiling water from the paddle or from between the hands and are supported on edge by placing the paddle against them until all are in. The bread paddle, or sometimes a special circular turning paddle, is used to rotate the cakes a little when partly done, so as to cook all parts alike. An hour is usually required for cooking, though the completion of the operation is indicated when the cakes show a tendency to float, or when the steam is given out equally all over when a cake is lifted out. The bread paddle is also employed in removing the bread from the pot. When a batch is too large for the pot, some of the cakes are boiled for five or six minutes, then removed and baked in a pan in the oven. Boiled corn bread, while not light in the ordinary sense, is decidedly tasty when newly made. It may be sliced and eaten either hot or cold with butter, gravy or maple syrup. An Oneidatown informant states that it is often sliced and fried in butter as we fry cornmeal or oatmeal mush. In his book, "Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains" (Paris, 1724) Volume II, p. 94, Jos. Francois Lafitau remarks of corn bread that "... nothing is heavier or more insipid; it is a mass of flour kneaded without regard to cleanliness, without either leaven or salt. They cover it with corn leaves and cook it in the ashes or in the kettle. They often, also, add oil, grease, beans and fruits. It is then still more disagreeable." He admits, however, that it is best when freshly cooked. The boiling of the corn in ashes, in bread-making, was sometimes omitted. A kettleful of water was brought to the boiling point, according to an informant, Mrs. Peter John, a Mohawk woman married to an Onondaga man. The ripe corn was added and boiled until softened a little. It was then drained in the washing basket, allowed to dry slightly, then pounded, sifted, and made into flour. This kind of flour is called ganehana`-we'di`. A similar omission is found in the Huron process of bread-making as recorded by Sagard-Theodat in his book, "Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons," Tross ed., (Paris, 1865). Loaves of corn bread were frequently carried along while travelling, though parched corn flour sweetened with maple syrup was a more popular material. The use of corn bread for this purpose is indicted in the word "johnny-cake" from "journey-cake." The ash-cake, hoe-cake, and pone are other European adoptions. * Salt was evidently adopted principally during the later historical period. In "History of the Mission of the United Brethren Among the Indians in North America" (London, 1794), pt 1, p. 65, translated by La Trobe, G. H. Loskiel describes the Iroquois attitude towards salt by stating that "... neither the Iroquois, Delaware, nor any in connexion with them, eat their meat raw, but frequently without salt, though they have it in abundance." The fact that several old-time foods, such as corn bread, corn and bean soup, etc. are made without salt would also indicate that the usage is modern. Source: Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation, by F. W. Waugh, Ottawa Government Printing Bureau (1916), Memoir 86, No. 12, Anthropological Series Shared by: Norman R. Brown 2/93

Submitted By BILL CHRISTMAS

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