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!)
>
I Googled parched corn recipe.... it sounds dry to me. Recipe
narratives mention popcorn in the same sentence. Not sure where his
gravy came from.

Here's what one blog says:
"Tastes nothing like the Planters corn nuts. My husband says that
these crack instead of crunch, and mine taste like corn with some
salt. Well, that is what they are. I didn't expect that my first
non-burning of said corn snack was going to be perfect. They are not
bad, but not what I would encourage my friends to eat. They do have
that same jaw soreness that the store bought corn nuts induce."

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sf wrote:
> 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!)
>>
> I Googled parched corn recipe.... it sounds dry to me. Recipe
> narratives mention popcorn in the same sentence. Not sure where his
> gravy came from.
>
> Here's what one blog says:
> "Tastes nothing like the Planters corn nuts. My husband says that
> these crack instead of crunch, and mine taste like corn with some
> salt. Well, that is what they are. I didn't expect that my first
> non-burning of said corn snack was going to be perfect. They are not
> bad, but not what I would encourage my friends to eat. They do have
> that same jaw soreness that the store bought corn nuts induce."

I don't think this was anything like Corn Nuts (the snack). I love those
things but I sure wouldn't consider putting gravy of any kind on toasted
Corn Nuts!

jmcquown wrote:
>
> sf wrote:
> > 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!)
> >>
> > I Googled parched corn recipe.... it sounds dry to me. Recipe
> > narratives mention popcorn in the same sentence. Not sure where his
> > gravy came from.
> >
> > Here's what one blog says:
> > "Tastes nothing like the Planters corn nuts. My husband says that
> > these crack instead of crunch, and mine taste like corn with some
> > salt. Well, that is what they are. I didn't expect that my first
> > non-burning of said corn snack was going to be perfect. They are not
> > bad, but not what I would encourage my friends to eat. They do have
> > that same jaw soreness that the store bought corn nuts induce."
>
> I don't think this was anything like Corn Nuts (the snack). I love those
> things but I sure wouldn't consider putting gravy of any kind on toasted
> Corn Nuts!

I wondered about that too regarding corn nuts. I like them a lot as
well, although spouse doesn't due to the odor -- too much like Fritos I
suppose. Anywho, I agree -- gravy and corn nuts a pair do not make!

Sky

l, not -l wrote:
> On 17-Jun-2007, sf wrote:
>
>> I Googled parched corn recipe.... it sounds dry to me. Recipe
>> narratives mention popcorn in the same sentence. Not sure where his
>> gravy came from.
>>
>> Here's what one blog says:
>> "Tastes nothing like the Planters corn nuts. My husband says that
>> these crack instead of crunch, and mine taste like corn with some
>> salt. Well, that is what they are. I didn't expect that my first
>> non-burning of said corn snack was going to be perfect. They are not
>> bad, but not what I would encourage my friends to eat. They do have
>> that same jaw soreness that the store bought corn nuts induce."
>
> GladCorn http://www.gladcorn.com/ is a commercial product that is a
> close cousin, if not the same thing, as parched corn.
>
> My mother, age 85, who was born and lived much of her life in rural
> Kentucky, enjoyed a trip down memory lane when I bought her a bag of
> GladCorn. She said, when she was a child, they made parched corn in
> a cast iron skillet from field corn kernals - the hard (dent) corn,
> not soft, sweet corn.

Dad did call it "parched field corn" but that's normally used as livestock
feed. Of course during the depression that may be all they had. He didn't
mention it being crunchy.

They ate it as a treat, much as we would eat
> popcorn today. Often it was available after harvest, when families
> would walk through fields picking up the ears of corn missed by the
> mechanical reapers (called gleaning) I recall gleaning my
> grandfather's corn field as a child, in the early-to-mid fifties.
>
> Who knows what a poor family might do for a meal; if parched corn was
> all that was available to fill you up, you might make a little gravy
> to stretch it or make it a bit easier to swallow as a main course.
> Of course, in the alternative, the fellow who'd like to have some
> might just be confused - I do know a lot of folks who ate at hominy
> smothered in gravy.

I'm pretty sure this wasn't hominy but then again who knows what his
grandmother called "hominy".

Jill