About 20 years ago, or so, I got this wonderful cook book. The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith. He went into the history of many classic American dishes. And clearly he liked to experiment with food, like I do.
Anyways, I was especially fascinated by the section on Succotash (more on the name later).
He didn't present one single recipe on the dish. He just described it. It is basically corn kernels, Lima beans (originally Kidney beans though, as he points out), liquid and fat (originally bear, he says). You basically take it from there yourself.
I have come across many recipes since then, though. It is usually cooked as a casserole. Okra is usually added to thicken it. Tomato sauce may be added. I even came across one recipe with shredded cabbage, that I have been trying for years to relocate. Yeah, bacon or salt pork are added for the fat. But I think it would make an excellent vegan dish though. Just let your imagination run wild! You don't even need a recipe, as I said.
Now, the word "succotash" is a little trite ("sufferin' succotash!"). But you can also call it by its original name, as Smith does, "msicquatash".
What do the rest of you think? And where is that recipe with cabbage, I have been searching for years in vain to find?
Anyways, I was especially fascinated by the section on Succotash (more on the name later).
He didn't present one single recipe on the dish. He just described it. It is basically corn kernels, Lima beans (originally Kidney beans though, as he points out), liquid and fat (originally bear, he says). You basically take it from there yourself.
I have come across many recipes since then, though. It is usually cooked as a casserole. Okra is usually added to thicken it. Tomato sauce may be added. I even came across one recipe with shredded cabbage, that I have been trying for years to relocate. Yeah, bacon or salt pork are added for the fat. But I think it would make an excellent vegan dish though. Just let your imagination run wild! You don't even need a recipe, as I said.
Now, the word "succotash" is a little trite ("sufferin' succotash!"). But you can also call it by its original name, as Smith does, "msicquatash".
What do the rest of you think? And where is that recipe with cabbage, I have been searching for years in vain to find?
