Confederate cush

Last updated
Cush
Alternative namesslosh, coosh, kush, cornmeal hash
Typehash, hotcake or stew
CourseMain course / Side dish
Place of originUnited States
Region or state Southern United States
Created by Senegambians
Inventedc. 17th century
Cooking time 10 minutes
Serving temperatureWarm
Main ingredients salt pork, bacon, cornmeal mush, cubed beef
Ingredients generally usedgrease, water, garlic
Variationsmeatless

Cush is a dish that became popular following the Slave Trade. It is also known as cornmeal hash.

Contents

Origin

The dish likely originated in the southern United States sometime shortly after the start of the American Civil War. [1] The name is likely derived from the Cajun dish couche-couche (fried cornmeal mush). [2]

Popularity

The dish became popular during the American Civil War among the Confederate Army, due to the minimal amount of preparation needed to prepare it and the few ingredients required. [3] [4]

Preparation

A Confederate soldier gave this recipe for cush: "We take some bacon & fry the grease out, then we cut some cold beef in small pieces and put it in the grease, then pour in water and stew it like mash. Then we crumble corn bread or biscuit in it and stew it again till all the water is out. Then we have real Confederate cush." [1]

Though it was usually served with the water cooked out, in the form of hash, sometimes it was served as a stew, with flour as a substitute for the cornmeal. [5] When corn pone went sour, it was often used in place of cornmeal. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of the Southern United States</span> Overview of the cuisine of the Southern United States

The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several regions, including Tidewater, Appalachian, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, and Floribbean cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corned beef</span> Salt-cured beef product

Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornbread</span> American bread made with cornmeal

Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are staple foods of the Hopi people in Arizona. The Hidatsa people of the Upper Midwest call baked cornbread naktsi. Cherokee and Seneca tribes enrich the basic batter, adding chestnuts, sunflower seeds, apples or berries, and sometimes combining beans or potatoes with the cornmeal. Modern versions of cornbread are usually leavened by baking powder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hash (food)</span> Culinary dish of chopped meat, potatoes, and fried onions

Hash is a culinary dish consisting of chopped meat, potatoes, and fried onions. The name is derived from French: hacher, meaning "to chop". It originated as a way to use up leftovers. In the U.S. by the 1860s, a cheap restaurant was called a "hash house" or "hashery."

Jamaican cuisine includes a mixture of cooking techniques, flavours and spices influenced by Amerindian, African, Irish, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern people who have inhabited the island. It is also influenced by the crops introduced into the island from tropical Southeast Asia, many of which are now grown locally. A wide variety of seafood, tropical fruits and meats are available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinidad and Tobago cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago has a unique history and its food is influenced by Indian-South Asian, West African, Creole, European, American, Chinese, Amerindian, and Latin American culinary styles. Trinidad and Tobagonian food is dominated by a wide selection of seafood dishes, most notably, curried crab and dumplings. Trinidad and Tobago is also known for its prepared provisions, such as dasheen, sweet potato, eddoe, cassava, yam, soups and stews, also known as blue food across the country. Corresponding to the Blue Food Day event held annually in Trinidad and Tobago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peasant foods</span> Dishes eaten by peasants

Peasant foods are dishes eaten by peasants, made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hushpuppy</span> Deep-fried savory food made from cornmeal batter

A hush puppy is a small, savory, deep-fried round ball made from cornmeal-based batter. Hushpuppies are frequently served as a side dish with seafood and other deep-fried foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexican cuisine</span> Cuisine originating from New Mexico

New Mexican cuisine is the cuisine of the Southwestern US state of New Mexico. The region is primarily known for its fusion of Pueblo Native American cuisine with Hispano Spanish and Mexican cuisine originating in Nuevo México.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous cuisine of the Americas</span> Food and drink of peoples Indigenous to the Americas

Indigenous cuisine of the Americas includes all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples retain a varied culture of traditional foods, along with the addition of some post-contact foods that have become customary and even iconic of present-day Indigenous American social gatherings. Foods like cornbread, turkey, cranberry, blueberry, hominy and mush have been adopted into the cuisine of the broader United States population from Native American cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnycake</span> American cornmeal flatbread

Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the West Indies, Dominican Republic, Saint Croix, The Bahamas, Colombia, Bermuda, Curaçao and Florida as well as in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foods of the American Civil War</span> Military food of the United States

Foods of the American Civil War were the provisions during the American Civil War with which both the Union and Confederate armies struggled to keep their soldiers provisioned adequately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belizean cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Belize

Belizean cuisine is an amalgamation of all ethnicities in the nation of Belize and their respectively wide variety of foods. Breakfast often consists of sides of bread, flour tortillas, or fry jacks that are often homemade and eaten with various cheeses. All are often accompanied with refried beans, cheeses, and various forms of eggs, etc. Inclusive is also cereal along with milk, coffee, or tea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texan cuisine</span> Food and drinks from Texas

Texan cuisine is the food associated with the Southern U.S. state of Texas, including its native Southwestern cuisine influenced Tex-Mex foods. Texas is a large state, and its cuisine has been influenced by a wide range of cultures, including Southern, German, Czech, British, African American, Creole/Cajun, Mexican, New Mexican, Native American, Asian, and Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pone (food)</span> Bread from American cuisine

Pone is a type of baked or fried bread in American cuisine, and the Cuisine of the Southern United States. Pone could be made with corn, or some other main ingredient could be used like sweet potato. This style of bread, eaten cold as a breakfast food, was a staple food of the cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies.

References

  1. 1 2 Akers, Merton T. (December 26, 1961). "Both Armies Spent Dismal, Cold Christmas In 1861". Lodi News-Sentinel . p. 4. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  2. Taggart, Chuck. "COUCHE COUCHE" . Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. Bell Irvin Wiley (1978). "Bad Beef and Corn Bread". The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy. LSU Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN   978-0-8071-0475-0.
  4. Rees, John U. (1 May 2007) [2004]. "Overview: Civil War and Reconstruction Foods". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 285–6. ISBN   978-0-19-530796-2.
  5. John C. Fisher; Carol Fisher (17 November 2010). Food in the American Military: A History. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN   978-0-7864-6173-8.
  6. Barry, Craig L. (April 2011). "Corn Pone & Jonnycake". Civil War News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2014.