Michael Owen Jones - Corn: A Global History (Edible)

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Vodka Patricia Herlihy Water Ian Miller

Whiskey Kevin R. Kosar Wine Marc Millon

A Global History

Michael Owen Jones

REAKTION BOOKS

Published by Reaktion Books Ltd

Unit 32, Waterside

4448 Wharf Road

London N1 7UX, UK

www.reaktionbooks.co.uk

First published 2017

Copyright Michael Owen Jones 2017

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

Printed and bound in China by 1010 Printing International Ltd

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 78023 816 6

In the United Kingdom, corn refers to the principal grain crop of a district, such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland and Ireland. The Tano in the Caribbean encountered by Columbus in 1492 used the term mahiz, which the Spanish rendered as maz; it became Anglicized as maize. American colonists and the British called the grain grown by indigenous people in the New World Indian corn.

On 2 January 1766, Benjamin Franklin published a letter in a London newspaper responding to British attacks on American character. A writer had lampooned the colonists, insisting that they lacked the fortitude to continue their boycotts of tea and other imports because their diet of Indian corn failed to provide an agreeable or easily digestible breakfast. Signing himself Homespun, Franklin retorted:

Pray let me, an American, inform the gentleman, who seems ignorant of the matter, that Indian corn, take it for all in all, is one of the most agreeable and wholesome grains in the world; that its green leaves [i.e. young ears] roasted are a delicacy beyond expression; that samp, hominy, succotash, and nokehock, made of it, are so many pleasing varieties; and that johny or hoecake, hot from the fire, is better than a Yorkshire muffin.

Pocahontas Bringing Corn to the Colonists, 1897.

The fare mentioned by Franklin derives from native people. Samp (Algonquin nasamp; or Narragansett nasaump) was porridge made from coarsely ground corn and eaten hot or cold. Nokehock or nokechick was parched corn cooked in hot ashes, then pounded into meal to be boiled or fried and sweetened with maple sugar or syrup. Succotash (from Narragansett meaning broken kernels) was maize boiled together with shell beans. Simply prepared, these dishes were, in Franklins words, wholesome, pleasing and, in regard to fresh corn on the cob, even a delicacy.

Maize was a staple for indigenous populations centuries before Columbus arrived in Hispaniola. Had it not been for the generosity of natives who gave the colonists corn, Jamestown, established in 1607, might not have survived as the first permanent English settlement. Even with the gifts of food, more than 80 per cent of the settlers perished in 160910 after a drought drastically diminished native stores of grain.

Developed in Meso-America thousands of years ago, corn or maize has become a leading grain crop, along with wheat and rice, and a staple globally. It is now grown in 160 countries and the United States has long been the worlds largest producer. Native people in the Americas told origin stories about deities bestowing maize on mankind and even creating human beings from it. The U.S. and countries in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe have issued stamps and minted coins depicting corn. Annual festivals and fairs feature the grain. The sports teams at the Hoopeston Area High School in Illinois bear the name Cornjerkers, and the 23 teams at the University of Nebraska are called the Cornhuskers (or simply Huskers). Maize nourishes the cattle, swine and fowl that humans consume. Around the world people eat corn on the cob, turn maize into porridge and bake breads from cornflour or meal. They boil or fry concoctions as savoury or sweet dishes. Distilled or fermented, corn is converted into whiskey or beer.

Nebraska boasts the title the Cornhusker State, corn is the official grain of Wisconsin, and Washington, Missouri, proclaims itself the Corn Cob Pipe Capital of the World.