The seeds of the maize plant, or Indian corn, are eaten as a vegetable when they are immature. They grow on a woody cob, and when they are green, they are soft and milky. But when they become ripe, they are hard and are then ground as grain. 

When the contents of the kernels is still in the liquid form, the corn is at the milk stage, and generally considered to be too young for table use.

On the other hand, when the liquid in the kernels has become thickened, the corn, which is then at the dough stage, too old for use as a vegetable.

To be ideal for culinary purposes, it should be just between the milk and dough stages.

 

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

CORN FRITTERS
Take two cups corn pulp or one can corn, chopped. If canned corn is used, drain off the liquid before using it. To the corn, add one cup flour, one teaspoon baking powder, and one teaspoon salt. Separate two eggs and stir in the beaten yolks. Beat the whites stiff and fold them into the mixture. Drop with a spoon into deep fat, fry until brown, remove from the fat, and drain on paper. Serve plain, with a desired sauce, or with maple syrup.

CORN PUDDING
Score the rows of corn in a dozen big ears and press out the juice and pulp. To two cups of pulp, add two well-beaten eggs, one tablespoon butter, one teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper and two cups of sweet milk. Pour into in a greased pudding dish and bake in a moderate oven* one hour until firm and brown. Serve with a hard sauce made by creaming half a cup of butter with one cup of sugar until light. Add a dash of nutmeg and put a tablespoon of sauce on each piece of hot pudding.

*moderate oven –  about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit

CORN PUDDING No. 2
Cook one-half green pepper, chopped, and one slice onion, chopped, in one tablespoon bacon fat for five minutes. Add one can corn, chopped, two tablespoons dried bread crumbs, one egg, well beaten, one cup milk, one-half teaspoon salt and one-fourth teaspoon paprika. Pour into a greased baking dish, sprinkle with two slices bacon, chopped fine, and bake in a slow oven* until firm, or about twenty-five minutes.

*slow oven – about 200-300 degrees Fahrenheit.

CORN DUMPLINGS
Take a quart of young corn grated from the cob, half a pint of wheat flour, sifted, half a pint of milk, six tablespoons butter, two eggs, a saltspoon* each of salt and pepper, and butter for frying. Having grated as fine as possible, sufficient young fresh corn to make a quart, mix with it the wheat flour and add the salt and pepper. Warm the milk in a small saucepan and soften the butter in it. Then add them gradually to the pan of corn, stirring very hard, and set it away to cool.

Beat the eggs light and stir them into the mixture when it has cooled. Flour your hands and make it into little dumplings. Put into a frying-pan a sufficiency of fresh butter, (or lard and butter in equal proportions,) and when it is boiling hot and has been skimmed, put in the dumplings. Fry them ten minutes or more, in proportion to their thickness. Then drain them and send them hot to the dinner-table.

*saltspoon –  a miniature spoon used with an open salt cellar for individual use before table salt was free-flowing.

CORN PORRIDGE
Take young corn and cut the grains from the cob. Measure it and to each heaping pint of corn, allow not quite a quart of milk. Put the corn and milk into a pot, stir them well together and boil them till the corn is perfectly soft. Then add some bits of fresh butter dredged with flour and let it boil five minutes longer. Stir in at the last, some beaten yolk of egg and in three minutes, remove it from the fire. Take up the porridge and stir some fresh butter into it. You may add sugar and nutmeg. Send it to table hot.

CORN OMELET
Take cold boiled corn and after cutting the grains through the middle, scrape it from the cob. Make a plain omelet and have the corn with very little milk heating in a saucepan, adding seasoning to taste. When the omelet is ready to turn, put the corn by spoonfuls over half the top, and fold the omelet over. Serve at once.

SCALLOPED CORN
Place in a mixing bowl three-fourths cup crushed corn, one-half cup fine bread crumbs, one tablespoon grated onion, two tablespoons finely minced parsley, one tablespoon butter, one teaspoon salt, one-half teaspoon paprika, three tablespoons flour, one egg, and three-fourths cup of milk. Mix well and then turn into a well-greased baking dish and bake for thirty minutes in a moderate oven.

CORN SOUFFLE
No more delightful corn dish can be prepared than corn soufflé, for in addition to its being appetizing and nutritious, it is extremely dainty. It may be cooked in a large baking dish, but it is more attractive when baked in individual baking dishes. A point to remember about its preparation is that it should be served immediately upon being taken from the oven, for soufflé always shrinks as it cools.

Mix two cups green corn pulp, one teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper, and two tablespoons melted butter. Stir in two tablespoons flour and one-fourth cup milk. Separate two eggs, beat the yolks, and add them to the mixture. Then beat the whites stiff and fold them in. Pour into a buttered baking dish or into individual baking dishes, set in a pan of hot water, and bake until brown. Serve at once.

CORN VINEGAR
Add to one gallon of rain water one pint of brown sugar or molasses and one pint of corn cut off the cob. Put into a jar, cover with a cloth, set in the sun, and in three weeks you will have good vinegar. Most people prefer it to cider vinegar.

CORN RELISH
Place in a preserving kettle one can sweet corn, one quart cooked string beans, one quart cooked lima beans, eight green peppers, cut in small pieces, one small head of cabbage, shredded fine, and one ounce of mustard seed. Add equal parts of vinegar and water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for thirty-five minutes.

Now place in a bowl one cup of flour, one-half cup of yellow mustard, one-half cup of salt, one-half cup of sugar, one ounce of paprika, and two cups of vinegar. Stir to dissolve and then add to the boiling mixture. Cook for fifteen minutes and then fill into all-glass jars and seal. Store in a cool dry place.

Image from Deposit Photos

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