Hasty pudding facts for kids

Hasty pudding is a simple, thick dish, like a porridge. It's made from grains cooked in milk or water. In the United States, it often means a version made with ground corn. You might know it from the old American song "Yankee Doodle"!

What is Hasty Pudding?

Since at least the 1500s, a dish called hasty pudding was popular in British cuisine. It was made from wheat flour. This flour was cooked in boiling milk or water. It became very thick, like a batter or oatmeal porridge. For hundreds of years, it was a common food for English people.

The first known recipes for hasty pudding are from the 1600s. A cook named Robert May included three recipes in his book, The Accomplisht Cook. One recipe used flour, cream, raisins, and butter. Another was a boiled pudding. A third recipe included grated bread, eggs, and sugar.

Later, in 1747, Hannah Glasse used "hasty pudding" to describe batter or oatmeal porridge in her book, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Samuel Johnson's dictionary in 1755 also described it. It was either milk and flour, or oatmeal and water. Another old cookbook, The Compleat Housewife, had a recipe for it. This version used grated bread, cream, egg yolks, and sugar.

Hasty Pudding in America

Indian pudding is a traditional American dessert. It's a classic "cold-weather" food in New England. This dish was very common during the colonial era. It became popular again for Thanksgiving celebrations in the late 1800s. Before 1900, most American cookbooks had a recipe for it.

Today, store-bought puddings are more common. Indian pudding takes a long time to cook, so it's not as popular for busy home cooks. But it's still a special treat for autumn holidays. Some restaurants even serve it. It's usually served warm. People often enjoy it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

How Indian Pudding Began

English colonists came to North America in the 1600s. They brought hasty pudding recipes with them. But they changed the dish a lot! They didn't have much wheat. So, they used cornmeal instead. They learned to grow corn from the Native Americans. This is why the dish became known as Indian pudding. "Indian meal" was their name for cornmeal.

Colonists also had plenty of milk. So, they used milk instead of water. They added local sweeteners like molasses or maple syrup. If they had them, they added spices like cinnamon and ground ginger. Other common ingredients were butter and eggs. These made the pudding smoother. Raisins and nuts were sometimes added for flavor and texture.

Finally, Indian pudding was baked slowly in an oven for several hours. This changed its texture. It became smoother, more like a custard pudding, not a porridge. Experts say that the longer it cooks, the smoother it gets. The cornmeal soaks up more liquid over time.

In 1643, Roger Williams wrote about a similar dish. He called it "nasaump." He said it was "a kind of meale pottage." He noted that English people called their version "samp." This was corn, beaten and boiled. It could be eaten hot or cold with milk or butter. He thought it was very healthy for English people.

Pudding in the 1800s

Eliza Leslie was an important American cookbook author in the early 1800s. In her 1840 book, Directions for Cookery, In Its Various Branches, she included a recipe for wheat flour hasty pudding. She called the corn version "Indian mush." She also had a recipe for an oatmeal version called burgoo.

Eliza Leslie said it was important to cook the pudding slowly. She also suggested using a special "mush-stick" for stirring. This helped prevent lumps. This stick might be like the spurtle used for stirring porridge.

Here is a recipe from Catherine Beecher: Wet the Indian meal in cold water until there are no lumps. Stir it slowly into boiling, salted water. Keep stirring until it is so thick that a stick will stand in it. Boil it slowly so it does not burn, stirring often. It needs to boil for two or three hours. Pour it into a wide, deep dish. Let it get cold. Cut it into slices about half an inch thick. Flour the slices. Fry them on a griddle with a little lard, or bake them in a stone oven.

Similar Dishes Around the World

There are many dishes similar to hasty pudding in other countries.

In Brazil, there's a pudding called curau. Sweet corn kernels are blended raw with milk and often coconut milk. This liquid is then cooked until it becomes thick. Shredded coconut might be added at the end. Cinnamon powder is sprinkled on top. When this mixture is boiled wrapped in corn husks, it's called pamonha.

Polenta is the savory Italian version of hasty pudding. The ancient Romans originally used wheat for their version. But in polenta, maize (corn) is used instead.