I Enjoy Food and Cooking
SUFFERIN' SUCCOTASH!
My Mohawk ancestors used home-grown crops to their benefit in many delicious recipes. The three main staples—corn, beans and squash—were known as The Three Sisters because they were vital in sustaining life.
The Iroquois (which included the Mohawks) cooked their food in a large communal pot, from which all could take freely because members of the tribe each contributed to the recipe, either by hunting game, growing and harvesting vegetables, or cooking it and maintaining the perpetual cooking fire.
Misiquatash (From the Algonquin word meaning a mixture of kernels and legumes) was sort of Anglicized into the word “Succotash.” Today it is simply a mixture of corn, lima beans and zucchini, with spices added for flavor. The Iroquois way was to use bear fat for extra succulence. Nowadays we would use bacon fat, unless you are inclined to go out and kill a bear.
Here is my recipe for Iroquois succotash. I tried to keep it as close as possible to the way my Mohawk ancestors would have made it (except for the bear!)
2 cups of fresh or frozen yellow corn kernels
2 cups of fresh or frozen hulled lima beans
2 cups of yellow squash or zucchini, cut into small cubes
1 onion, chopped
3 slices of bacon
1 cup of water or broth (I use chicken broth)
salt and pepper to taste
I use a large cast-iron pot. Before the white man introduced them to iron kettles the Iroquois would have used the paunch of a large animal such as deer or moose, staked out to form a receptacle. But they found iron kettles much more handy.
First chop the raw bacon into pieces and place into the hot pot to render its fat.
Next add the onion and cook until transparent.
Throw in the rest of the vegetables and let them fry in the bacon fat to flavor them.
Then add the water or broth, and let all come to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Lower the flame and cook slowly for about 30 to 45 minutes (up to an hour if using raw vegetables), stirring occasionally. If cooking over an open campfire you would let the fire cool down a bit by removing some firewood. I don't do campfires, but this method would add to the authenticity and I just might try it sometime.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve. This recipe makes from 8 to 10 cups, enough to satisfy your family tribe.
As my Mohawk fathers may have said, “Heap good!” Well, maybe they didn't say that—the phrase may be a white man's conjecture. But it's good anyway!
My Mohawk ancestors used home-grown crops to their benefit in many delicious recipes. The three main staples—corn, beans and squash—were known as The Three Sisters because they were vital in sustaining life.
The Iroquois (which included the Mohawks) cooked their food in a large communal pot, from which all could take freely because members of the tribe each contributed to the recipe, either by hunting game, growing and harvesting vegetables, or cooking it and maintaining the perpetual cooking fire.
Misiquatash (From the Algonquin word meaning a mixture of kernels and legumes) was sort of Anglicized into the word “Succotash.” Today it is simply a mixture of corn, lima beans and zucchini, with spices added for flavor. The Iroquois way was to use bear fat for extra succulence. Nowadays we would use bacon fat, unless you are inclined to go out and kill a bear.
Here is my recipe for Iroquois succotash. I tried to keep it as close as possible to the way my Mohawk ancestors would have made it (except for the bear!)
2 cups of fresh or frozen yellow corn kernels
2 cups of fresh or frozen hulled lima beans
2 cups of yellow squash or zucchini, cut into small cubes
1 onion, chopped
3 slices of bacon
1 cup of water or broth (I use chicken broth)
salt and pepper to taste
I use a large cast-iron pot. Before the white man introduced them to iron kettles the Iroquois would have used the paunch of a large animal such as deer or moose, staked out to form a receptacle. But they found iron kettles much more handy.
First chop the raw bacon into pieces and place into the hot pot to render its fat.
Next add the onion and cook until transparent.
Throw in the rest of the vegetables and let them fry in the bacon fat to flavor them.
Then add the water or broth, and let all come to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Lower the flame and cook slowly for about 30 to 45 minutes (up to an hour if using raw vegetables), stirring occasionally. If cooking over an open campfire you would let the fire cool down a bit by removing some firewood. I don't do campfires, but this method would add to the authenticity and I just might try it sometime.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve. This recipe makes from 8 to 10 cups, enough to satisfy your family tribe.
As my Mohawk fathers may have said, “Heap good!” Well, maybe they didn't say that—the phrase may be a white man's conjecture. But it's good anyway!
