Of INDIAN CORN. It affords the cheapest and most nourishing food known. Proofs that it is more nourishing than rice. Different ways of preparing or cooking it. Computation of the expense of feeding a person with it, founded on experiment. Approved Receipt for making an INDIAN PUDDING.
I cannot help increasing the length of this Essay much beyond the bounds I originally assigned to it, in order to have an opportunity of recommending a kind of Food which I believe to be beyond comparison the most nourishing, cheapest, and most wholesome that can be procured for feeding the Poor.--This is Indian Corn, a most valuable production; and which grows in almost all climates; and though it does not succeed remarkably well in Great Britain, and in some parts of Germany, yet it may easily be had in great abundance, from other countries; and commonly at a very low rate.
The common people in the northern parts of Italy live almost entirely upon it; and throughout the whole Continent of America it makes a principal article of Food.--In Italy it is called Polenta, where it is prepared or cooked in a variety of ways, and forms the basis of a number of very nourishing dishes.-- The most common way however of using it in that country is to grind it into meal, and with water to make it into a thick kind of pudding, like what in this country is called a hasty-pudding, which is eaten with various kinds of sauce, and sometimes without any sauce.
In the northern parts of North America, the common household bread throughout the country is composed of one part of Indian meal and one part of rye meal; and I much doubt whether a more wholesome, or more nourishing kind of bread can be made.
Rice is universally allowed to be very nourishing,--much more so even than wheat; but there is a circumstance well known to all those who are acquainted with the details of feeding the negro slaves in the southern states of North America, and in the West Indies, that would seem to prove, in a very decisive and satisfactory manner, that INDIAN CORN IS EVEN MORE NOURISHING THAN RICE.--In those countries, where rice and Indian Corn are both produced in the greatest abundance, the negroes have frequently had their option between these two kinds of Food; and have invariably preferred the latter.--The reasons they give for this preference they express in strong, though not in very delicate terms.--They say that "Rice turns to water in their bellies, and runs off;"--but "Indian Corn stays with them, and makes strong to work."
This account of the preference which negroes give to Indian Corn for Food, and of their reasons for this preference, was communicated to me by two gentlemen of most respectable character, well known in England, and now resident in London, who were formerly planters; one in Georgia, and the other in Jamaica.
The nutritive quantity which Indian Corn possessed, in a most eminent degree, when employed for fattening hogs and poultry, and for giving strength to working oxen, has long been universally known and acknowledged in every part of North America; and nobody in that country thinks of employing any other grain for those purposes.
All these facts prove to a demonstration that India Corn possesses very extraordinary nutritive powers; and it is well known that there is no species of grain that can be had so cheap, or in so great abundance;--it is therefore well worthy the attention of those who are engaged in providing cheap and wholesome Food for the Poor,--or in taking measures for warding off the evils which commonly attend a general scarcity of provisions, to consider in time, how this useful article of Food may be procured in large quantities, and how the introduction of it into common use can be most easily be effected.
In regard to the manner of using Indian Corn, there are a vast variety of different ways in which it may be prepared, or cooked, in order to its being used as Food.--One simple and obvious way of using it, is to mix it with wheat, rye, or barley meal, in making bread; but when it is used for making bread, and particularly when it is mixed with wheat flour, it will greatly improve the quality of the bread if the Indian meal, (the coarser part of the bran being first separated from it by sifting,) be previously mixed with water, and boiled for a considerable length of time,--two or three hours for instance, over a slow fire, before the other meal or flour is added to it.--This boiling, which, if the proper quantity of water is employed, will bring the mass to the consistency of a thin pudding, will effectually remove a certain disagreeable RAW TASTE in the Indian Corn, which simple baking will not entirely take away; and the wheat flour being mixed with this pudding after it has been taken from the fire and cooked, and the whole well kneaded together, may be made to rise, and be formed into loaves, and baked into bread, with the same facility that bread is made of wheat flour alone, or of any mixtures of different kinds of meal.
When the Indian meal is previously prepared by boiling, in the manner here described, a most excellent, and very palatable kind of bread, not inferior to wheaten bread, may be made of equal parts of this meal and of common wheat flour.
But the most simple, and I believe the best, and most economical way of employing Indian Corn as Food, is to make it into puddings.--There is, as I have already observed, a certain rawness in the taste of it, which nothing but long boiling can remove; but when that disagreeable taste is removed, it becomes extremely palatable; and that it is remarkably wholesome, has been proved by so much experience that no doubts can possibly be entertained of that fact.
The culture of it required more labour than most other kinds of grain; but, on the other hand, the produce is very abundant, and it is always much cheaper than either wheat or rye.-- The price of it in the Carolinas, and in Georgia, has often been as low as eighteen pence, and sometimes as one shilling sterling per bushel;--but the Indian Corn which is grown in those southern states is much inferior, both in weight and in its qualities, to that which is the produce of colder climates.--Indian Corn of the growth of Canada, and the New England states, which is generally thought to be worth twenty per cent. more per bushel than that which is grown in the southern states, may commonly be bought for two and sixpence, or three shillings a bushel.
It is now three shillings and sixpence a bushel at Boston; but the prices of provisions of all kinds have been much raised of late in all parts of America, owing to the uncommonly high prices which are paid for them in the European markets since the commencement of the present war.
Indian Corn and rye are very nearly of the same weight, but the former gives rather more flour, when ground and sifted, than the latter.--I find by a report of the Board of Agriculture, of the 10th of November 1795, that three bushels of Indian Corn weighed 1 cwt. 1 qr. 18 lb. (or 53 lb. each bushel), and gave 1 cwt. 20 lb. of flour and 26 lb. of bran; while three bushels of rye, weighing 1 cwt. 1 qr. 22 lb. (or 54 lb. the bushel), gave only 1 cwt. 17 lb. of flour and 28 lb. of bran.-- But I much suspect that the Indian Corn used in these experiments was not of the best quality[13].
I saw some of it, and it appeared to me to be of that kind which is commonly grown in the southern states of North America.-- Indian Corn of the growth of colder climates is, probably, at least as heavy as wheat, which weights at a medium about 58 lb. per bushel, and I imagine it will give nearly as much flour[14].
In regard to the most advantageous method of using Indian Corn as Food, I would strongly recommend, particularly when it is employed for feeding the Poor, a dish made of it that is in the highest estimation throughout America, and which is really very good, and very nourishing. This is called hasty-pudding; and it is made in the following manner: A quantity of water, proportioned to the quantity of hasty-pudding intended to be made, is put over the fire in an open iron pot, or kettle, and a proper quantity of salt for seasoning the pudding being previously dissolved in the water, Indian meal is stirred into it, by little and little, with a wooded spoon with a long handle, while the water goes on to be heated and made to boil;-- great care being taken to put in the meal by very small quantities, and by sifting it slowly through the fingers of the left hand, and stirring the water about very briskly at the same time with the wooden spoon, with the right hand, to mix the meal with the water in such a manner as to prevent lumps being formed.-- The meal should be added so slowly, that, when the water is brought to boil, the mass should not be thicker than water-gruel, and half an hour more, at least, should be employed to add the additional quantity of meal necessary for bringing the pudding to be of the proper consistency; during which time it should be stirred about continually, and kept constantly boiling.-- The method of determining when the pudding has acquired the proper consistency is this;--the wooden spoon used for stirring it being placed upright in the middle of the kettle, if it falls down, more meal must be added; but if the pudding is sufficiently thick and adhesive to support it in a vertical position, it is declared to be PROOF; and no more meal is added.--If the boiling, instead of being continued only half an hour, be prolonged to three quarters of an hour, or an hour, the pudding will be considerably improved by this prolongation.
This hasty-pudding, when done, may be eaten in various ways.-- It may be put, while hot, by spoonfuls into a bowl of milk, and eaten with the milk with a spoon, in lieu of bread; and used in this way it is remarkably palatable.--It may likewise be eaten, while hot, with a sauce composed of butter and brown sugar, or butter and molasses, with or without a few drops of vinegar; and however people who have not been accustomed to this American cookery may be prejudiced against it, they will find upon trial that it makes a most excellent dish, and one which never fails to be much liked by those who are accustomed to it. --The universal fondness of Americans for it proves that it must have some merit;--for in a country which produces all the delicacies of the table in the greatest abundance, it is not to be supposed that a whole nation should have a taste so depraved as to give a decided preference to any particular species of Food which has not something to recommend it.
The manner in which hasty-pudding is eaten with butter and sugar, or butter and molasses, in America, is as follows: The hasty-pudding being spread out equally upon a plate, while hot, an excavation is made in the middle of it, with a spoon, into which excavation a piece of butter, as large as a nutmeg, is put; and upon it, a spoonful of brown sugar, or more commonly of molasses.-- The butter being soon melted by the heat of the pudding, mixes with the sugar, or molasses, and forms a sauce, which, being confined in the excavation made for it, occupies the middle of the plate.--The pudding is then eaten with a spoon, each spoonful of it being dipt into the sauce before it is carried to the mouth; care being had in taking it up, to begin on the outside, or near the brim of the plate, and to approach the center by regular advances, in order not to demolish too soon the excavation which forms the reservoir for the sauce.
If I am prolix in these descriptions, my reader must excuse me; for persuaded as I am that the action of Food upon the palate, and consequently the pleasure of eating, depends very much indeed upon the MANNER in which the Food is applied to the organs of taste, I have thought it necessary to mention, and even to illustrate in the clearest manner, every circumstance which appeared to me to have influence in producing those important effects.
In the case in question, as it is the sauce alone which gives taste and palatableness to the Food, and consequently is the cause of the pleasure enjoyed in eating it, the importance of applying, or using it, in such a manner as to produce the greatest and most durable effect possible on the organs of taste, is quite evident; and in the manner of eating this Food which has here been described and recommended, the small quantity of sauce used, (and the quantity must be small, as it is the expensive article,) is certainly applied to the palate more immediately;-- by a greater surface;--and in a state of greater condensation;-- and consequently acts upon it more powerfully;--and continues to act upon it for a greater length of time, than it could well be made to do when used in any other way.--Were it more intimately mixed with the pudding, for instance, instead of being merely applied to its external surface, its action would certainly be much less powerful; and were it poured over the pudding, or was proper care not taken to keep it confined in the little excavation or reservoir made in the midst of the pudding to contain it, much of it would attach itself and adhere to the surface of the plate, and be lost.
Hasty-pudding has this in particular to recommend it;--and which renders it singularly useful as Food for poor families,--that when more of it is made at once than is immediately wanted, what remains may be preserved good for several days, and a number of very palatable dishes may be made of it.--It may be cut in thin slice, and toasted before the fire, or on a gridiron, and eaten instead of bread, either in milk, or in any kind of soup or pottage; or with any other kind of Food with which bread is commonly eaten; or it may be eaten cold, without any preparation, with a warm sauce made of butter, molasses, or sugar, and a little vinegar.--In this last-mentioned way of eating it, it is quite as palatable, and I believe more wholesome, than when eaten warm; that is to say, when it is first made.--It may likewise be put cold, without any preparation, into hot milk; and this mixture is by no means unpalatable, particularly if it be suffered to remain in the milk till it is warmed throughout, or if it be boiled in the milk for a few moments.
A favourite dish in America, and a very good one, is made of cold boiled cabbage chopped fine, with a small quantity of cold boiled beef, and slices of cold hasty-pudding, all fried together in butter or hog's lard.
Though hasty-puddings are commonly made of Indian meal, yet it is by no means uncommon to make them of equal parts of Indian, and of rye meal;--and they are sometimes made of rye meal alone; or of rye meal and wheat flour mixed.
To give a satisfactory idea of the expence of preparing hasty-puddings in this country, (England,) and of feeding the Poor with them, I made the following experiment:--About 2 pints of water, which weighed just 2 lb. Avoirdupois, were put over the fire in a saucepan of a proper size, and 58 grains in weight or 1/120 of a pound of salt being added, the water was made to boil.--During the time that is was heating, small quantities of Indian meal were stirred into it, and care was taken, by moving the water briskly about, with a wooden spoon, to prevent the meal from being formed into lumps; and as often as any lumps were observed, they were carefully broken with the spoon;--the boiling was then continued half an hour, and during this time the pudding was continually stirred about with the wooden spoon, and so much more meal was added as was found necessary to bring the pudding to be of the proper consistency.
This being done, it was taken from the fire and weighed, and was found to weigh just 1 lb. 11 1/2 oz.--Upon weighing the meal which remained, (the quantity first provided having been exactly determined by weight in the beginning of the experiment,) it was found that just HALF A POUND of meal had been used.
From the result of this experiment it appears, that for each pound of Indian meal employed in making hasty-pudding, we may reckon 3 lb. 9 oz. of the pudding.--And expence of providing this kind of Food, or the cost of it by the pound, at the present high price of grain in this country, may be seen by the following computation:
L. s. d. Half a pound of Indian meal, (the quantity) ] used in the foregoing experiment,) at 2d ] a pound or 7s. 6d. a bushel for the corn, ]... 0 0 1 (the price stated in the report of the ] Board of Agriculture of the 10th of ] November 1795, so often referred to,) costs]
58 grains or 1/120 of a pound of salt, at ] 2d. per pound ]... 0 0 0 1/60 ------------ Total, 0 0 1 1/60
Now, as the quantity of pudding prepared with these ingredients was 1 lb. 11 1/2 oz. and the cost of the ingredients amounted to ONE PENNY AND ONE SIXTIETH OF A PENNY, this gives for the cost of one pound of hasty-pudding 71/120 of a penny, or 2 1/3 farthings, very nearly.--It must however be remembered that the Indian Corn is here reckoned at a very exorbitant price indeed[15].
But before it can be determined what the expence will be of feeding the Poor with this kind of Food, it will be necessary to ascertain how much of it will be required to give a comfortable meal to one person; and how much the expence will be of providing the sauce for that quantity of pudding.--To determine these two points with some degree of precision, I made the following experiment:-- Having taken my breakfast, consisting of two dishes of coffee, with cream, and a dry toast, at my usual hour of breakfasting, (nine o'clock in the morning,) and having fasted from that time till five o'clock in the afternoon, I then dined upon my hasty-pudding, with the American sauce already described, and I found, after my appetite for Food was perfectly satisfied, and I felt that I had made a comfortable dinner, that I had eaten just 1 lb. 1 1/2 oz. of the pudding; and the ingredients, of which the sauce which was eaten with it was composed, were half an ounce of butter; three quarters of an ounce of molasses; and 21 grains or 1/342 of a pint of vinegar.
The cost of this dinner may be seen by the following computation:
For the Pudding Farthings. 1 lb. 1 1/2 oz. of hasty-pudding, at 2 1/3 farthings a pound ... ... ... ... 2 1/2 ------ For the Sauce
Half an ounce of butter, at 10d. per pound 1 1/4 Three quarters of an ounce of molasses, at 6d. per pound ... ... ... ... 1 1/352 of a pint of vinegar, at 2s 8d. the gallon ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 1/16 ------ Total for the Sauce, 2 5/16 farthings.
Sum total of expences for this dinner, for the pudding and its sauce... ... ... 4 13/16 farthings. Or something less than one penny farthing.
I believe it would not be easy to provide a dinner in London, at this time, when provisions of all kinds are so dear, equally grateful to the palate and satisfying to the cravings of hunger, at a smaller expence.--And that this meal was sufficient for all the purposes of nourishment appears from hence, that though I took my usual exercise, and did not sup after it, I neither felt any particular faintness, nor any unusual degree of appetite for my breakfast next morning.
I have been the more particular in my account of this experiment, to show in what manner experiments of this kind ought, in my opinion, to be conducted;--and also to induce others to engage in these most useful investigations.
It will not escape the observation of the reader, that small as the expence was of providing this dinner, yet very near one-half of that sum was laid out in purchasing the ingredients for the sauce.--But it is probable that a considerable part of that expence might be saved.--In Italy, polenta, which is nothing more than hasty-pudding made with Indian meal and water, is very frequently, and I believe commonly eaten without any sauce, and when on holidays or other extraordinary occasions they indulge themselves by adding a sauce to it, this sauce is far from expensive.--It is commonly nothing more than a very small quantity of butter spread over the flat surface of the hot polenta which is spread out thin in a large platter; with a little Parmezan or other strong cheese, reduced to a coarse powder by grating it with a grater, strewed over it.
Perhaps this Italian sauce might be more agreeable to an English palate than that commonly used in America. It would certainly be less expensive, as much less butter would be required, and as cheese in this country is plenty and cheap. But whatever may be the sauce used with Food prepared of Indian Corn, I cannot too strongly recommend the use of that grain.
While I was employed in making my experiment upon hasty-pudding, I learnt from my servant, (a Bavarian,) who assisted me, a fact which gave me great pleasure, as it served to confirm me in the opinion I have long entertained of the great merit of Indian Corn.--He assured me that polenta is much esteemed by the peasantry in Bavaria, and that it makes a very considerable article of their Food; that it comes from Italy through the Tyrol; and that it is commonly sold in Bavaria AT THE SAME PRICE AS WHEAT FLOUR! Can there be stronger proofs of its merit?
The negroes in America prefer it to rice; and the Bavarian peasants to wheat.--Why then should not the inhabitants of this island like it? It will not, I hope, be pretended, that it is in this favoured soil alone that prejudices take such deep root that they are never to be eradicated, or that there is any thing peculiar in the construction of the palate of an Englishman.
The objection that may be made to Indian Corn,--that it does not thrive well in this country,--is of no weight. The same objection might, with equal reason, be made to rice, and twenty other articles of Food now in common use.
It has ever been considered, by those versed in the science of political economy, as an object of the first importance to keep down the prices of provisions, particularly in manufacturing and commercial countries;--and if there be a country on earth where this ought to be done, it is surely Great Britain:--and there is certainly no country which has the means of doing it so much in its power.
But the progress of national improvements must be very slow, however favorable other circumstances may be, where those citizens, who, by their rank and situation in society, are destined to direct the public opinion, AFFECT to consider the national prejudices as unconquerable[16].--But to return to the subject immediately under consideration.
Though hasty-pudding is, I believe, the cheapest Food that can be prepared with Indian Corn, yet several other very cheap dishes may be made of it, which in general are considered as being more palatable, and which, most probably, would be preferred in this country; and among these, what in America is called a plain Indian pudding certainly holds the first place, and can hardly fail to be much liked by those, who will be persuaded to try it.--It is not only cheap and wholesome, but a great delicacy; and it is principally on account of these puddings that the Americans, who reside in this country, import annually for their own consumption Indian Corn from the Continent of America.
In order to be able to give the most particular and satisfactory information respecting the manner of preparing these Indian puddings, I caused one of them to be made here, (in London,) under my immediate direction, by a person born and brought up in North America, and who understands perfectly the American art of cookery in all its branches[17]. This pudding, which was allowed by competent judges who tasted it to be as good as they had ever eaten, was composed and prepared in the following manner:
Approved Receipt for making a plain Indian Pudding.
Three pounds of Indian meal (from which the bran had been separated by sifting it in a common hair sieve) were put into a large bowl, and five pints of boiling water were put to it, and the whole well stirred together; three quarters of a pound of molasses and one ounce of salt were then added to it, and these being well mixed, by stirring them with the other ingredients, the pudding was poured into a fit bag; and the bag being tied up, (an empty space being left in the bag tying it, equal to about one-sixth of its contents, for giving room for the pudding to swell,) this pudding was put into a kettle of boiling water, and was boiled six hours without intermission; the loss of the water in the kettle by evaporation during this time being frequently replaced with boiling water from another kettle.
The pudding upon being taken out of the bag weighed ten pounds and one ounce; and it was found to be perfectly done, not having the smallest remains of that raw taste so disagreeable to all palates, and particularly to those who are not used to it, which always predominates in dishes prepared of Indian meal when they are not sufficiently cooked.
As this raw taste is the only well-founded objection that can be made to this most useful grain, and is, I am persuaded, the only cause which makes it disliked by those who are not accustomed to it, I would advise those who may attempt to introduce it into common use, where it is not known, to begin with Indian (bag) puddings, such as I have here been describing; and that this is a very cheap kind of Food will be evident from the following computation:
Expense of preparing the Indian Pudding above mentioned.
Pence. Pence. 3 lb. of Indian meal at ... ... 1 1/2 ... 4 1/2 3/4 lb. of molasses at ... ... 6 ... 4 1/2 1 oz. of salt at 2d. per lb. ... ... ... 0 1/8 ------ Total for the ingredients, 9 1/8
As this pudding weighed 10 1/16 lbs. and the ingredients cost nine pence and half a farthing, this gives three farthings and a half for each pound of pudding.
It will be observed, that in this computation I have reckoned the Indian meal at no more than 1 1/2d per pound, whereas in the calculation which was given to determine the expense of preparing hasty-pudding it was taken at two pence a pound. I have here reckoned it at 1 1/2d. a pound, because I am persuaded it might be had here in London for that price, and even for less.--That which has lately been imported from Boston has not cost so much; and were it not for the present universal scarcity of provisions in Europe, which has naturally raised the price of grain in North America, I have no doubt but Indian meal might be had in this country for less than one penny farthing per pound.
In composing the Indian pudding above mentioned, the molasses is charged at 6d. the pound, but that price is very exorbitant. A gallon of molasses weighing about 10 lb. commonly costs in the West Indies from 7d. to 9d. sterling; and allowing sufficiently for the expenses of freight, insurance, and a fair profit for the merchant, it certainly ought not to cost in London more than 1s. 8d. the gallon[18]; and this would bring it to 2d. per pound.
If we take the prices of Indian meal and molasses as they are here ascertained, and compute the expense of the ingredients for the pudding before mentioned, it will be as follows:--
Pence. Pence. 3 lb. of Indian meal at ... ... 1 1/4 ... 3 3/4 3/4 lb. of molasses at ... ... 2 ... 1 1/2 1 oz. of salt at 2d. per lb. ... ... ... 0 1/8 ------ Total for the ingredients, 5 3/8
Now as the pudding weighed 10 1/16 lbs. this gives two farthings, very nearly, for each pound of pudding; which is certainly very cheap indeed, particularly when the excellent qualities of the Food are considered.
This pudding, which ought to come out of the bag sufficiently hard to retain its form, and even to be cut into slices, is so rich and palatable, that it may very well be eaten without any sauce; but those who can afford it commonly eat it with butter. A slice of the pudding, about half an inch, or three quarters of an inch in thickness, being laid hot upon a plate, an excavation is made in the middle of it, with the point of the knife, into which a small piece of butter, as large perhaps as a nutmeg, is put, and where it soon melts. To expedite the melting of the butter, the small piece of pudding which is cut out of the middle of the slice to form the excavation for receiving the butter, is frequently laid over the butter for a few moments, and is taken away (and eaten) as soon as the butter is melted. If the butter is not salt enough, a little salt is put into it after it is melted. The pudding is to be eaten with a knife and fork, beginning at the circumference of the slice, and approaching regularly towards the center, each piece of pudding being taken up with the fork, and dipped into the butter, or
dipped into it IN PART ONLY, as is commonly the case, before it is carried to the mouth.
To those who are accustomed to view objects upon a great scale, and who are too much employed in directing what ought to be done, to descend to those humble investigations which are necessary to show HOW it is to be effected, these details will doubtless appear trifling and ridiculous; but as my mind is strongly impressed with the importance of giving the most minute and circumstantial information respecting the MANNER OF PERFORMING any operation, however simple it may be, to which people have not been accustomed, I must beg the indulgence of those who may not feel themselves particularly interested in these descriptions.
In regard to the amount of the expence for sauce for a plain Indian (bag) pudding, I have found that when butter is used for that purpose, (and no other sauce ought ever to be used with it,) half an ounce of butter will suffice for one pound of the pudding. --It is very possible to contrive matters so as to use much more;--perhaps twice, or three times as much;--but if the directions relative to the MANNER of eating this Food, which have already been given, are strictly followed, the allowance of butter here determined will be quite sufficient for the purpose for which it is designed; that is to say, for giving an agreeable relish to the pudding.--Those who are particularly fond of butter may use three quarters of an ounce of it with a pound of the pudding; but I am certain, that to use an ounce would be to waste it to no purpose whatever.
If now we reckon Irish, or other firkin butter, (which, as it is salted, is the best that can be used,) at eight pence the pound, the sauce for one pound of pudding, namely, half an ounce of butter, will cost just one farthing; and this, added to the cost of the pudding, two farthings the pound, gives three farthing for the cost by the pound of this kind of food, with its sauce; and, as this food is not only very rich and nutritive, but satisfying at the same time in a very remarkable degree, it appears how well calculated it is for feeding the Poor.
It should be remembered, that the molasses used as an ingredient in these Indian puddings, does not serve merely to give taste to them;--it acts a still more important part;--it gives what, in the language of the kitchen, is called lightness.--It is a substitute for eggs, and nothing but eggs can serve as a substitute for it, except it be treacle; which, in fact, is a kind of molasses; or perhaps coarse brown sugar, which has nearly the same properties.-- It prevents the pudding from being heavy, and clammy; and without communicating to it any disagreeable sweet taste, or any thing of that flavour peculiar to molasses, gives it a richness uncommonly pleasing to the palate. And to this we may add, that it is nutritive in a very extraordinary degree.--This is a fact well known in all countries where sugar is made.
How far the laws and regulations of trade existing in this country might render it difficult to procure molasses from those places where it may be had at the cheapest rate, I know not;--nor can I tell how far the free importation of it might be detrimental to our public finances;--I cannot, however, help thinking, that it is so great an object to this country to keep down the prices of provisions, or rather to check the alarming celerity with which they are rising, that means ought to be found to facilitate the importation, and introduction into common use, of an article of Food of such extensive utility. It might serve to correct in some measure, the baleful influence of another article of foreign produce, (tea,) which is doing infinite harm in this island.
A point of great importance in preparing an Indian pudding, is to boil it PROPERLY and SUFFICIENTLY. The water must be actually boiling when the pudding is put into it; and it never must be suffered to cease boiling for a moment, till it is done; and if the pudding is not boiled full six hours, it will not be sufficiently cooked.--Its hardness, when done, will depend on the space left in the bag its expansion. The consistency of the pudding ought to be such, that it can be taken out of the bag without falling to pieces;--but it is always better, on many accounts, to make it too hard than too soft. The form of the pudding may be that of a cylinder; of rather of a truncated cone, the largest end being towards the mouth of the bag, in order that it may be got out of the bag with greater facility; or it may be made of a globular form, by tying it up in a napkin.--But whatever is the form of the pudding, the bag, or napkin in which it is to be boiled, must be wet in boiling water before the pudding, (which is quite liquid before it is boiled,) is poured into it; otherwise it will be apt to run through the cloth.
Though this pudding is so good, perfectly plain, when made according to the directions here given, that I do not thing it capable of any real improvement; yet there are various additions that may be made to it, and that frequently are made to it, which may perhaps be thought by some to render it more palatable, or otherwise to improve it. Suet may, for instance, be added, and there is no suet pudding whatever superior to it; and as no sauce is necessary with a suet pudding, the expence for the suet will be nearly balanced by the saving of butter. To a pudding of the size of that just described, in the composition of which three pounds of Indian meal were used, one pound of suet will be sufficient; and this, in general, will not cost more than from five pence to six pence, even in London;--and the butter for sauce to a plain pudding of the same size would cost nearly as much. The suet pudding will indeed be rather the cheapest of the two, for the pound of suet will add a pound in weight to the pudding;--whereas the butter will only add five ounces.
As the pudding, made plain, weighing 10 1/16 lb. cost 5 3/8 pence, the same pudding, with the addition of one pound of suet, would weigh 11 1/16 lb. and would cost 11 1/8 pence,--reckoning the suet at six pence the pound.--Hence it appears that Indian suet pudding may be made in London for about one penny a pound. Wheaten bread, which is by no means so palatable, and certainly not half so nutritive, now costs something more than three pence the pound: and to this may be added, that dry bread can hardly be eaten alone; but of suet pudding a very comfortable meal may be made without any thing else.
A pudding in great repute in all parts of North America, is what is called an apple pudding. This is an Indian pudding, sometimes with, and sometimes without suet, with dried cuttings of sweet apples mixed with it; and when eaten with butter, it is most delicious Food. These apples, which are pared as soon as they are gathered from the tree, and being cut into small pieces, are freed from their cores, and thoroughly dried in the sun, may be kept good for several years. The proportions of the ingredients used in making these apple puddings are various; but, in general, about one pound of dried apples is mixed with three pounds of meal,--three quarters of a pound of molasses,--half an ounce of salt, and five pints of boiling water.
In America, various kinds of berries, found wild in the woods, such as huckle-berries, belberries, whortle-berries, etc. are gathered and dried, and afterwards used as ingredients in Indian puddings: and dried cherries and plums may be made use of in the same manner.
All these Indian puddings have this advantage in common, that they are very good WARMED UP.--They will all keep good several days; and when cut into thin slices and toasted, are an excellent substitute for bread.
It will doubtless be remarked, that in computing the expence of providing these different kinds of puddings, I have taken no notice of the expence which will be necessary for fuel to cook them.--This is an article which ought undoubtedly to be taken into the account. The reason of my not doing it here is this:-- Having, in the course of my Experiments on Heat, found means to perform all the common operations of cookery with a surprisingly small expence of fuel, I find that the expence in question, when the proper arrangements are made for saving fuel, will be very trifling. And farther, as I mean soon to publish my Treatise on the Management of Heat, in which I shall give the most ample directions relative to the mechanical arrangements of kitchen fire-places, and the best forms for all kinds of kitchen utensils, I was desirous not to anticipate a subject which will more naturally find its place in another Essay.--In the mean time I would observe, for the satisfaction of those who may have doubts respecting the smallness of the expence necessary for fuel in cooking for the Poor, that the result of many experiments, of which I shall hereafter publish a particular account, has proved in the most satisfactory manner, that when Food is prepared in large quantities, and cooked in kitchens properly arranged, the expense for fuel ought never to amount to more than two per cent. of the cost of the Food, even where victuals of the cheapest kind are provided, such as is commonly used in feeding the Poor. In the Public Kitchen of the House of Industry at Munich the expence for fuel is less than one per cent. of the cost of the Food, as may be seen in the computation, page 206, Chapter III. of this Essay: and it ought not to be greater in many parts of Great Britain.
With regard to the price at which Indian Corn can be imported into this country from North America in time of peace, the following information, which I procured through the medium of a friend, from Captain Scott, a most worthy man, who has been constantly employed above thirty years as master of a ship in the trade between London and Boston in the State of Massachusetts, will doubtless be considered as authentic[19].
The following are the questions which were put to him,--with his answers to them:
Q. What is the freight, per ton, of merchandise from Boston in North America to London in time of peace?----A. Forty shillings (sterling).
Q. What is the freight, per barrel, of Indian Corn?----A. Five shillings.
Q. How much per cent. is paid for insurance from Boston to London in time of peace?---- A. Two per cent.
Q. What is the medium price of Indian Corn, per bushel, in New England?----A. Two shillings and sixpence.
Q. What is the price of it at this time?----A. Three shillings and sixpence.
Q. How many bushels of Indian Corn are reckoned to a barrel? ----A. Four
From this account it appears that Indian Corn might, in time of peace, be imported into this country and sold here for less than four shillings the bushel;--and that it ought not to cost at this moment much more than five shillings a bushel.
If it be imported in casks, (which is certainly the best way of packing it,) as the freight of a barrel containing four bushels is five shillings, this gives 1s. 3d. a bushel for freight; and if we add one penny a bushel for insurance, this will make the amount of freight and insurance 1s. 4d. which, added to the prime cost of the Corn in America, (2s. 6d. per bushel in the time of peace, and 3s. 6d. at this time,) will bring it to 3s. 10d. per bushel in time of peace, and 4s. 10d at this present moment.
A bushel of Indian Corn of the growth of New England was found to weigh 61 lb.; but we will suppose it to weigh at a medium only 60 lb. per bushel; and we will also suppose that to each bushel of Corn when ground there is 9 lb. of bran, which is surely a very large allowance, and 1 lb. of waste in grinding and sifting;-- this will leave 50 lb. of flour for each bushel of the Corn; and as it will cost, in time of peace, only 3s. 10d. or 46 pence, this gives for each pound of flour 46/50 of a penny, or 3 3/4 farthings very nearly.
If the price of the Indian Corn per bushel be taken at 4s. 10d. what it ought to cost at this time in London, without any bounty on importation being brought into the account,--the price of the flour will be 4s. 10d equal to 58 pence for 50 lb. in weight, or 1 1/6 penny the pound, which is less than one third of the present price of wheat flour. Rice, which is certainly not more nourishing than Indian Corn, costs 4 1/2 pence the pound.
If 1/13 of the value of Indian Corn be added to defray the expence of grinding it, the price of the flour will not even then be greater in London than one penny the pound in time of peace, and about one penny farthing at the present high price of that grain in North America. Hence it appears, that in stating the mean price in London of the flour of Indian Corn at one penny farthing, I have rather rated it too high than too low.
With regard to the expense of importing it, there may be, and doubtless there are frequently other expences besides those of freight and insurance; but, on the other hand, a very considerable part of the expences attending the importation of it may be reimbursed by the profits arising from the sale of the barrels in which it is imported, as I have been informed by a person who imports it every year, and always avails himself of that advantage.
One circumstance much in favour of the introduction of Indian Corn into common use in this country is the facility with which it may be had in any quantity. It grows in all quarters of the globe, and almost in every climate; and in hot countries two or three crops of it may be raised from the same ground in the course of a year.--It succeeds equally well in the cold regions of Canada;--in the temperate climes of the United States of America;--and in the burning heats of the tropics; and it might be had from Africa and Asia as well as from America. And were it even true,--what I never can be persuaded to believe,--that it would be impossible to introduce it as an article of Food in this country, it might at least be used as fodder for cattle, whose aversion to it, I will venture to say, would not be found to be UNCONQUERABLE.
Oats now cost near two pence the pound in this country. Indian Corn, which would cost but a little more than half as much, would certainly be much more nourishing, even for horses, as well as for horned cattle;--and as for hogs and poultry, they ought never to be fed with any other grain. Those who have tasted the pork and the poultry fatted on Indian Corn will readily give their assent to this opinion.
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