CORNMEAL MUSH
Cornmeal mush makes a tasty breakfast cereal and can also be allowed to set up and sliced for frying giving 2 options.
2 cups of water
Pinch of salt
1 cup of cornmeal
Butter
Honey, syrup, or sugar
Bring water to a boil; add salt; slowly add cornmeal stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Continue cooking and stirring until thick and creamy. Serve with butter, sugar, honey, or whatever pleases you.
NOTE: Cornmeal mush is called polenta in other cultures.
TIP: Pour mush into bread pan or other container and allow to set up over night. Remove from pan and slice; fry in hot grease until brown. Slices can be dipped into flour or egg to form a browner crust when fried.
TP
—Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley
I didn’t grow up eating cornmeal mush, but Pap did. He told me it was often what they had for breakfast when he was a boy. And since times were hard they often had the leftovers for supper.
His mother would pour the leftover mush (I’m sure she purposely cooked extra) into a pan and let it set up. For supper she would slice and fry it. They would pour sorghum syrup over it and eat it like pancakes.
I was married and a mother before I tasted cornmeal mush. The Deer Hunter’s aunt Wanda made it for us. Like Pap she had memories of her family making it when she was a girl and still makes it every once in a while.
Last night’s video: Sweet Potatoes, Granny, & Hot Chocolate.
Jim and I would love to see you next Saturday in Knoxville. See details below.
Tipper
l have never eaten it as a hot cereal, and have to say it doesn’t appeal, but who knows? I might like it! I have made mush for frying for years, so delicious. And so simple!
I’ve never had cornmeal mush for breakfast, but I love cornbread warmed up with butter and syrup for breakfast. Yummy!
Good morning Tipper! I am writing this as I pass Waynesville. Myself and another nurse friend are on our way back to Texas from Asheville. We were privileged to volunteer the last few days at several places around the area. A special shout out to the West Yancey Fire Department. They welcomed us as one of them, and we met so many special folks that needed a little assistance and invited us into their homes. Thank you
I love fried mush, as I was taught to call it. My Dad grew up in Rockwood, Tenn and he couldn’t live without it when he moved to KY and later married my Mother. She became a pro and by the time I came along it was on our supper table at least once a week.
I’ve never ate corn mush, but it looks a lot like grits. Watched the video when you made this and it all looked delicious.
Prayers continue for all victims of both hurricanes.
My German-American grandmother did the same with grits. We grandchildren all thought it was a treat, not knowing it was a thrifty way to use leftovers. I like ‘em sweet or savory.
God bless you friends, thank you for the information about the green beans I had, have a great day
I’ve never eaten corn meal mush, but I do use quite a bit of corn meal for making cornbread. All my life I’ve eaten grits and I still really like them with butter and black pepper and sometimes with grated cheddar cheese. Paired with some hot homemade biscuits grits make a nice breakfast.
My hubby’s Italian Grandma would cook polenta, let it set up in a pan, fry, and serve it with marinara sauce for dinner. She never served it with syrup, but I would like to try it that way. Another awesome thing she made was a fried bread she called “tanglebritches”. She would make a homemade bread dough—then pinch pieces off, twist them, and fry them in hot oil in her iron skillet. We would all anxiously wait to eat them—hot with butter and jelly or jam—So delicious!
As an Italian American we ate polenta often. Not for breakfast though. More as a side dish and it was almost like a square cake. It is delicious though!
I’ve been wondering if you were still going to be able to be there. Looking forward to seeing you all!
I’ve never had cornmeal mush but a few years ago I read a recipe for Comforting Cornmeal Soup and that sounded like just what I needed. It was very nice- made much looser, I’m sure, than the mush and using chicken broth instead of water. It was savory and nourishing and yes, comforting. It was also looser than polenta.
My grandmother ate mush often but I don’t remember eating it. I love cornmeal without the added flour of a mix baked into a pone in the oven or fried small cakes in an iron skillet on top of the stove. I might have to try it, especially in a form that many have mentioned in the comments with bacon, cheese or sorghum. Thanks for stirring up memories.
Mom often talked about having cornmeal mush as the only thing for breakfast before they went to work in the fields. She never made it for her children but I wish she had. I love grits and cook them often to eat with scrambled eggs. The single-serve envelopes of instant grits are mighty tasty and convenient too.
Morning to all. Hope y’all have a better week this week than last week. I’ve had fried mush as an adult. Not sure momma ever cooked it, or either of my grandma’s. It was on the menu at, I believe, Bob Evans restaurant’s, in Missouri. I loved it butter and syrup sweet or savory, with a fried sunny side up egg. Yummy good stuff. Growing up our breakfast food was mostly cold cereals, cream of wheat or oatmeal. Still enjoy that too. Especially on a cool or cold morning. I always have that with butter, brown sugar and a dash or two of cinnamon. Again sweet Miss Tipper, thanks for the memories of times gone by. Love and prayers to y’all, the storm victims, everywhere and the people working to get things back together. And condolences to all the families who lost loved ones.
Since my grandparents were born in 1905 or so, I ate many things as a child many may consider country or out of fashion. Mommy made corn meal mush and yes she sliced and fried it too. I always felt like it was porridge from fairy tales and looking at it made me feel mighty down hearted. It’s also the stance I’ve taken on grits too. In the Army was maybe the first time I saw grits and again that sad, lackluster feeling came on me. I can eat oatmeal, but I’d rather not have it too much. If I had no meat or potatoes, I’d be mighty sad… y’all have a good day as we pray for and call to mind all the fine folks who’ve lost their homes, loved ones and even their health in this Helene aftermath…. May God restore them to even more than they had before!!! Have a blessed day y’all! I guess what’s for breakfast may be more regional than I suspected…
Our family consisted of a mother, a father and three hungry boys. We ate lots of grits and cornbread with our meals, but never mush, as far as I can recall. That is somewhat surprising. I would have liked it, I’m sure. Mom fried slices of congealed leftover grits occasionally, but we somehow missed the mush train. My granddaughter was in Africa for a month, and had corn meal mush with the villagers three times a day. They cooked in the open and ate their “mush-mush” with their fingers. They had nothing but mush.
My husband’s grandparents made the cornmeal mush slices, that were lightly floured then fried in butter and topped with syrup, often here in E Central Illinois. What a wonderful thought you brought to my mind!!! I can feel the warmth of their house now, (they always kept there house quite a bit warmer than most.) I can smell the of toast vividly, oh how that smell makes me smile Tipper. They baked their toast in the oven and ALWAYS had toasted bread with every meal (if not crackers.) They taught us more things than any family member we had. They lived long, grandma to 94 and grandpa got his driver license renewed on his 98th birthday and passed away a month later, he lived on his own until he passed. Thanks for making me reminisce this morning Tipper!
I have had corn meal mush for breakfast when I was a boy. My brother and I lived with our Grandma in KY while Dad, Mom and our sister were in Ohio where Dad was working. Grandma made us mush and kids like it never crossed my mind whether it was more necessity than choice. It was OK as I recall. But I’m confused. What is the difference between grits (which I never heard of growing up) and mush?
Regular corn meal was used for mush, it was ground finer than grits.
Ron, I have noticed one thing in common with the things mentioned, grits, mush or cornmeal, hominy, all of them come from corn. I still eat grits nearly every morning but I will confess, I now cheat and eat the instant packs of grits but not the flavored ones. A older dearly loved member of our church was raised in Michigan, he likes to to say “I am no longer a Yankee, I now eat grits!” He was Yupper not a Troll.
When I was a child, we used to eat fried mush for breakfast with maple syrup. I love all hot cereals and just two days ago had a bowl of grits with butter, salt and pepper. Took the chill right off.
We were also poor when I was growing up, but we never ate mush. We often ate grits, eggs, homemade biscuits and some type of pork meat for breakfast, never toast or cereal/cornflakes. I wrote this a few days ago, my favorite breakfast of all was homemade biscuits, fried fatback, and gravy made using the fatback grease called hunky doo gravy in my family. That was about as cheap as it gets. Nothing but the flour and grits were bought. If you couldn’t grow, raise or make it in my family you did without, there was very little food bought at a grocery store and eating in a restaurant was unheard of. This was true for all meals not just breakfast.
I grew up in the Piedmont area of NC. My Mama made mush for our family quite often and I always loved it. She had grown up during the Great Depression and mush was a staple in my grandparent’s household. When preparing it for our family, Mama would serve the warm mush in a large glass and pour cold milk over it and we would eat it with a spoon. We always thought it was a breakfast or lunch treat and never realized it was poor man’s food.
In my world cornmeal mush is a savory dish. Sweeteners need to be removed from the table altogether. Stir in a little butter or cheese or crumbled bacon or any combination of the three. Cap it with an easy over egg then some creamy sausage gravy. In a bowl,
or fried and in a plate,
either way it’s gonna be great.
If you yearn for the sugars then add an opened biscuit on the side with your syrup drizzled inside.
Now, what can be better than that?
All of that sounds good to me except for one item…easy over egg, I love fried, scrambled, deviled eggs, but my one requirement is that they are cooked well done. When working the grave yard shift, my stomach would do a flip flop watching some of the ones eating those runny eggs on our breakfast break. I would always carry something to eat but would go to the cafeteria with some of my coworkers and friends.
We always called those stocking caps. Toboggins were stocking caps with a long “tail” that hung down in back. Sailors wore watch caps.
I grew up having grits for breakfast quite often. Still do occasionally. My mom used to talk about eating cornmeal mush the same as Pap. I imagine a lot of folks did back in the day. Especially for those who grew up during the depression like my mom.
We ate mush quite a bit , When growin up in Ohio (a favorite state to inquire employment from West Virginia) we were lead to believe it was a poor man’s meal, didn’t bother me, liked it the same. Don’t here of it any more.
Maybe I don’t understand your comment but isn’t more than a third of Ohio considered part of Appalachia? 32 of 88 counties?
Thank you for posting written and video on our Appalachian culture. I grew up and live on the North Carolina side of the mountains and can relate to your content. I hope you fared well through Helene.
Yep I remember those cold mornings when my mom would fry up some mush for breakfast. We didn’t have a lot back in those days and most of the time she would just heat up some sugar in water to pour on the mush.
My Daddy loved mush, especially with sorghum! When I hear people talk about mush, I immediately think of my Daddy. He would be 94 if he were still with us. I never had it growing up either, Tipper, but we did eat alot of gravy, biscuits, fried taters and hominy! I believe hominy was my absolute favorite, with a little warm syrup or grape jelly 🙂 Have a wonderful day!