BOILED HOMINY (LARGE)

1 quart Corn, cracked not ground
2 qts. water
Butter
Pepper
Salt

The large kind, made of cracked, not ground corn, is erroneously termed "samp" by Northern grocers. This is the Indian name for the fine-grained. To avoid confusion, we will call the one large, the other small. Soak the large over night in cold water. Next day put it into a pot with at least two quarts of water to a quart of the hominy, and boil slowly three hours, or until it is soft. Drain in a cullender, heap in a root-dish, and stir in butter, pepper and salt.

Common Sense in the Household by Marion Harland, New York, 1871

Comment: While grits are on something of a popularity roll these days (particularly with garlic and cheese additives, something entirely unknown to 19th century cookbook writers) hominy continues its slow slide into obscurity. The long soaking period advised here serves to both rehydrate the dried corn kernels and to leach away the lye used at the time in the preserving process. Most hominy found in stores today comes in canned form, which eliminates the need for this step.

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