On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:56:57 -0500, "jmcquown"
> wrote:

>My dad asked to "get on the computer and ask whoever" about Parched Corn.
>Apparently this is something his grandmother made for them (in Pennsylvania)
>during the Depression. Information on Parching corn he
>
>http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...loom-Corn.aspx
>
>or
>
>http://tinyurl.com/2hzj3n
>
>He said his grandma served it with some sort of gravy but the only
>ingredient he mentioned was lard. Given it was the Depression I'm guessing
>it was probably a white gravy with lard as the fat, flour stirred in, milk,
>salt & pepper. It was most definitely something very inexpensive.
>
>I gather (he wasn't really clear, but lately he rarely is) he's looking for
>a recipe to recreate this dish from his childhood. Is anyone here from the
>Pennsylvania/Ohio area familiar with this? Thanks in advance for any
>information.
>
>(Oh, and I suspect it won't be as great as he so fondly remembers; we've all
>had that experience!)
>
>Jill
>
We had this a lot. But the recipes probably varied depending on where
you lived. What my mother called parched corn was dried corn fried in
bacon grease. What she called fried corn was fresh corn cut off of the
cob and fried in bacon grease. Parched corn was crunchy, more like
cornnuts, fried corn was not. We often had fried corn served with
gravy. Gravy was a browned bacon grease and flour roux with milk added
and cooked til thickened. There was always a one pound coffee can of
bacon grease on the counter.

By the way. This was all made with field corn. Not sweet corn. Rural
farmers where I lived grew field corn for their cattle and hogs and
they ate the same corn. Sweet corn seed wasn't generally available
where we lived until after WWII. Sweet corn seeds were expensive and
there was a lot of extra labor and expense involved to grow it. You
grew field corn and you bought sweet corn at the store. Sweet corn was
always boiled or steamed and served on the cob. If you make parched
or fried corn with sweet corn you get something entirely different,
both in texture and taste, and it probably won't be like your dad
remembers. In the 1950s, when my uncle in Wabbaseka, Arkansas called
to say the fresh field corn was ready we went for a visit and came
back with enough to fill one freezer shelf. When he called a few
months later to say the dried field corn was ready we went for a visit
and came back with enough for several sacks of kernels and several
bags of meal, which my father ground himself. This would last most of
the winter.