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American Indians did what? Roasted Parched Maize.

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    • American Indians did what? Roasted Parched Maize.

      Native Americans of New England planted corn in household gardens and in more extensive fields adjacent to their villages. Fields were often cleared by controlled burning which enriched not only the soil but the plant and animal communities as well. Slash and burn agriculture also helped create an open forest environment, free of underbrush, which made plant collecting and hunting easier.



      Agricultural fields consisted of small mounds of tilled earth, placed a meter or two apart sometimes in rows and other times randomly placed. Kernels of corn and beans were planted in the raised piles of soil to provide the support of the cornstalk for the bean vine to grow around. The spaces in between the mounds were planted with squash or mellon seeds. The three crops complemented each other both in the field and in their combined nutrition.

      Native Americans discovered that, unlike wild plants and animals, a surplus of maize could be grown and harvested. Tribes in southern New England harvested great amounts of maize and dried them in heaps upon mats. The drying piles of maize, usually two or three for each Narragansett family, often contained from 12 to 20 bushels of the grain. Surplus maize would be stored in underground storage pits, ingeniously constructed and lined with grasses to prevent mildew or spoiling, for winter consumption of the grain.



      The European accounts of Josselyn in 1674, indicate Native Americans used bags and sacks to store powdered cornmeal, "which they make use of when stormie weather or the likewill not suffer them to look out for their food". Parched cornmeal made an excellent food for traveling. Roger Williams in 1643, describes small traveling baskets: "I have travelled with neere 200. of them at once, neere 100. milesthrough the woods, every man carrying a little Basket of this [Nokehick] at his back, andsometimes in a hollow Leather Girdle about his middle, sufficient for a man three or fouredaies".

      Source

      So we now know American Indians traveled up to four days with a corn husk basket or pouch with roasted and/or parched Maize. They also used Pemmican and/or Jerky for their travels. Roasted Parch Maize, delivered high starches that could easily be transported while hiking. They used the stalks to weave intricate bed mats similar to what we use for pads inside tents. Click on the source above for further reading. Oh that trail they were using the the Great Trail (also called the Great Path) was a network of footpaths created by Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists in North America. It connected the areas of New England and eastern Canada, and the mid-Atlantic regions to each other and to the Great Lakes region. Many major highways in the Northeastern United States were later constructed to follow the routes established thousands of years ago by Native Americans moving along these trails. One of the Great Trails was today's 202 West Chester PA to Wilmington De

      Source

      OK so how do we make this at home, because its better than gorp.

      Source

      When the first European settlers arrived as colonists along the New England coast, they nearly starved to death until they were taught to plant corn in the Native American fashion. Corn sustained the Plymouth colony in its early years, and it became the staple of the American back country for almost 400 years. Even when I was a kid, a breakfast of either johnnycakes or fried cornmeal mush was commonplace in the more rural areas of New England.
      Corn was used in a variety of forms on the American frontier, but for life on the trail, the most useful form of corn was parched corn. That is as true today as it was in the 18th century. I would rather have a bag of parched corn with me on a hike or campout than granola or trail mix. Parched corn keeps well, and it has a great flavor—lots of corn flavor, but with a nutty overlay. As an added benefit, the longer you chew it, the more flavor it releases.

      Parching Orders

      There are basically two ways of starting the process of parching corn, and each method yields a slightly different product. Classic parched corn starts with shelled corn, which are the dried corn kernels after they have been removed from the cob. If you grow your own corn, this is the way to go.
      The second method starts with frozen sweet corn. Let the corn thaw and then dry it thoroughly in a food dehydrator. If you don’t want to spring for a dehydrator, you can dry corn in an oven set to 150 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave the oven door ajar, and periodically stir the corn as it dries. Once the previously frozen corn is completely dry, you can get to parching it.

      Whether you start with shelled corn or dehydrated corn, the parching process is the same. Lightly oil a heavyweight frying pan by rubbing it with a paper towel moistened with cooking oil. Set your burner to low-medium heat and let your pan come up to temperature. When the pan is hot, pour in a layer of shelled corn or dehydrated corn. The corn should be just one level deep in the pan. Every kernel should be touching the surface of the pan.
      When it is on the heat, you have to keep the corn moving or it will scorch. I use a wooden spatula to keep the corn moving around the pan. Within five minutes, you’ll see the corn changing color; it will get darker. With shelled corn, some of the kernels will pop in the pan, like popcorn but without the fluff. The longer the corn stays in the hot pan, the darker it will get, and the more flavor it will have, up to a point. You don’t want to burn it, and that can happen quickly. When the corn is as dark as you like it, dump it onto a bed of paper towels to cool. While it is still hot, you can salt it or sugar it if you like. I like to hit it with just a tiny bit of salt to bring out the flavor.
      Once it’s cool, you can bag it up and you’ve got parched corn. If it is made from frozen corn, I usually use the parched corn just as it comes from the pan as a trail food. You can eat it by the handful while walking on the trail, or you can add it to soups and stews as they cook over the campfire. Parched frozen corn is a wonderful thickener for soup. Parched corn made from shelled corn also travels well, and it is a great trail food. It is something like corn nuts but easier to chew. Whole-kernel parched corn doesn’t work well as an ingredient in other dishes until you process it a little bit further.

      Grind Your Own

      If you have ever heard the words “pinole” or “rockahominy,” they both refer to coarsely ground corn meal made from parched corn, rather than meal milled from dried corn. Pinole is the term you’ll encounter in the Southwest, while rockahominy is more prevalent in the eastern states. I make rockahominy by running parched corn through a coffee grinder. Sift the ground meal then run the bigger pieces through the grinder again. The resulting meal is a little coarser than regular corn meal. I store rockahominy in a zip-top plastic bag in our pantry. Rockahominy is the form of parched corn that was probably most used by both Native Americans and colonists. The flour is even lighter than regular corn meal, and it keeps better because it has a lower moisture content. It has more flavor than standard corn meal thanks to the toasting process. It also takes longer to digest than regular corn meal, so it satisfies your hunger for a longer period of time.

      Thoughts?

      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • I started becoming "corn intolerant" in my 20's. Sad as I used to eat 10 sweet corn ears on my granddads PA farm..... It slowly got worse, no whole corn, then no creamed, then.....now I think the corn syrup which is in dang near everything, causes some "live with it" issues..... I'd make a terrible Native American! However, their "corn" wasn't the corn we have today.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • Bo Peep wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      I love grilled con
      Yes! I like to soak it in water, remove the silk and leave the husk on. Throw it on the grill with everything else. Way better than boiled!!!
      Yep, that’s how I do it too. The corn also gets a rub of olive oil and coarse salt before grilling.
      it gives it a nice sweet and kind of nutty taste.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • You are ALL being very insensitive to those of us with Corn Intolerance!!! I need a SAFE SPACE! I'm going to post this on "Social" media and get a group of us who are CI and publically SHAME all of you!!! GOFUNDME!!!

      (dang, that olive oil, sea salt, roasted.....sounds wonderful)
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • rhjanes wrote:

      You are ALL being very insensitive to those of us with Corn Intolerance!!! I need a SAFE SPACE! I'm going to post this on "Social" media and get a group of us who are CI and publically SHAME all of you!!! GOFUNDME!!!

      (dang, that olive oil, sea salt, roasted.....sounds wonderful)
      What a horrible affliction, and a cruel joke if ya do, got a family member who can’t partake either.
    • I’ve been known to boost a couple of ears from the neighbor’s sweet corn patch, remove the silk, soak the ears in salted water for a couple of hours, and break out a propane torch for the roasting process.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Jake Ace wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      I love grilled con
      Yes! I like to soak it in water, remove the silk and leave the husk on. Throw it on the grill with everything else. Way better than boiled!!!
      really brings out the sweetness with those little char grill marks
      Boiling corn and other veggies is a poor American excuse for cooking, it removes flavor and vitamins - hence spinach turns the water green. Grilling corn changes the starch into sugars, creating more flavor and higher heat. my favorite is a touch of Chilli powder, or Creole with sea salt and butter before going on the grill.

      I have worked in some fine dining establishments as a teen, I have never understood why a steam table was necessary as all it does is over-boil food.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      I love grilled con
      Yes! I like to soak it in water, remove the silk and leave the husk on. Throw it on the grill with everything else. Way better than boiled!!!
      really brings out the sweetness with those little char grill marks
      Boiling corn and other veggies is a poor American excuse for cooking, it removes flavor and vitamins - hence spinach turns the water green. Grilling corn changes the starch into sugars, creating more flavor and higher heat. my favorite is a tough of Chilli powder, or Creole with sea salt and butter before going on the grill.
      I have worked in some fine dining establishments as a teen, I have never understood why a steam table was necessary as all it does is over-boil food.
      prolly sumthin’ along the lines of automazation and feeding the masses...think Henry Ford, but I’d ask a Chef.
    • rhjanes wrote:

      You are ALL being very insensitive to those of us with Corn Intolerance!!! I need a SAFE SPACE! I'm going to post this on "Social" media and get a group of us who are CI and publically SHAME all of you!!! GOFUNDME!!!

      (dang, that olive oil, sea salt, roasted.....sounds wonderful)
      Got your card right here. It is very useful around the City and at local Starbucks... avoid the Corn Muffins please.


      No kidding - I get the same reaction when I eat three small little neck clams... put me in the hospital for a day.

      CLICK
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • Native Americans also made an alcoholic beverage from corn - Chicha. To ferment grains, the starch has to be degraded using enzymes. Typically the enzymes are produced by sprouting the grains (malting), but in some cultures Chica is made using saliva enzymes. People sit around a big kettle and spit out balls of chewed corn. The masticated corn starch is hydrolyzed to sugar which is then fermented. Yum.
    • Jake Ace wrote:

      Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      I love grilled con
      Yes! I like to soak it in water, remove the silk and leave the husk on. Throw it on the grill with everything else. Way better than boiled!!!
      really brings out the sweetness with those little char grill marks
      Boiling corn and other veggies is a poor American excuse for cooking, it removes flavor and vitamins - hence spinach turns the water green. Grilling corn changes the starch into sugars, creating more flavor and higher heat. my favorite is a tough of Chilli powder, or Creole with sea salt and butter before going on the grill.I have worked in some fine dining establishments as a teen, I have never understood why a steam table was necessary as all it does is over-boil food.
      prolly sumthin’ along the lines of automazation and feeding the masses...think Henry Ford, but I’d ask a Chef.
      Rasty, where are you? :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      Jake Ace wrote:

      I love grilled con
      Yes! I like to soak it in water, remove the silk and leave the husk on. Throw it on the grill with everything else. Way better than boiled!!!
      really brings out the sweetness with those little char grill marks
      Boiling corn and other veggies is a poor American excuse for cooking, it removes flavor and vitamins - hence spinach turns the water green. Grilling corn changes the starch into sugars, creating more flavor and higher heat. my favorite is a tough of Chilli powder, or Creole with sea salt and butter before going on the grill.I have worked in some fine dining establishments as a teen, I have never understood why a steam table was necessary as all it does is over-boil food.
      prolly sumthin’ along the lines of automazation and feeding the masses...think Henry Ford, but I’d ask a Chef.
      Rasty, where are you? :)
      He is taking a wonderful vacation on some golf course. Good for him and getting away. If it isn't that and I am wrong he must have the flu.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • 202 south to Wilmington. The trading posts were in Chester to the east - the path must have had a fork or dogleg.


      OK to drive the point home, hundreds of American Indians prior to the 1600's were hiking the coastal states. They could move about for 4 days with the food on their backs, traveling with pouches and a knowledge of food and humble gathering. Much like the Mail Man... in Rain, Wind, Cold, you get the idea. When the sweede's showed up and made several posts in the 1600's they set up shop in today's Chester and NJ. In fact the port of the original landing of William Penn was in Chester, not Philadelphia. The skill sets of hiking was uber light. And now we know it wasn't all Gorp and Jerky. Now we know it was corn, a plant that does not grow naturally anywhere on the east coast. Heated with a fire and stone, and a bit of tallow. It didn't spoil as it was a low moisture corn that wasn't sweet. After the Swedes showed up their interest in trading beaver pelts drove a new business FOR THE AMERICAN INDIAN and need to travel, with what you could carry on your back. For someone to record on paper 200+ Indians traveling to the new ports with pelts as a group is staggering to me. And only consuming corn.


      On a side note... they were not all the same tribes, they were many tribes in this area, from old maps they had as many as 10 -15 "indian towns" across Chester Co. and 3 separate dialects or names from the parchments.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • Dan76 wrote:

      Hopefully you’re assured the corn was not sprayed with a pesticide.
      Interesting... never saw that post coming. Dan I can only guess that you are unaware I am in the Pesticide business and licensed with the Dept of Agriculture, for some 8 years recent. I was a Bee Keeper when I was 19-22 years of age and kept Italian and Penn Wild honey bees, for pollinating my dads 3+ acre orchard. After hanging out with other bee keepers - it is a lot more difficult to keep hives alive today then when I was doing it, due to invasive mites. (Miticides are now required)

      Pesticides are for controlling insects - not mammals, or humans. Today's corn FYI for yourself and others is frequently sprayed with products from a tiny chemical company called DuPont. Recently Halyomorpha halys, also known as the brown marmorated stink bug caused huge devastation to crops as an invasive species to corn, peach, tomato, and other edibles. The Asian stink bug is decimating corn crops that affect gas prices as well as beef and human consumption. If it were not for insecticides - we would not be better than the starving North Korea. I don't have to convince you of these facts that are currently presented to the American farmer.

      All Pesticides go thru a review period of years with the FDA prior to use. The EPA has to set the license and approval for use. Much of the testing and performance prior to use on farms apparently occurs for DuPont on a massive farm (once a private residence) in Maryland that I have had the nickel tour. The DuPont family and a secluded group of friends still stay and visit and they built a "mini" hotel overlooking the big lake for guests. They actively show up for fall hunting season to clear the corn of game. I counted some 60+ plus rifles or guns in the locked portion of the stables.

      My post is solely to inform. Corn apparently cannot ever grow naturally. It requires humans to help it grow - it was a GMO prior to Pilgrim's showed up. It was a grass 100,000 years ago. it was 4 inches high in the 1400's. Natural corn is a myth in the United States. In your lifetime and mine we have gone from an export nation of corn to a import nation. Natural Corn contains some 20+ mites and microscopic insects that have to be killed prior to entry from Turkey to prevent infestations here. Pesticides some 50 years ago still persist in American Soil. for example, DDT is still detectable on a microscopic scale in leafy greens grown in the USA.

      Well again this is to inform. Once removed from the ships at the Delaware Port it is moved into huge piles with bulldozers some 50 feet high to be treated and tented with Carbon Dioxide to kill those foreign insects. Prior to shipping to the Delmarva peninsula for Purdue Natural Chicken feeds. Competing Tyson has similar feed and buys from the same purveyors. Purdue's feed is a huge corporate secret, and I just gave you a little insight. Can't wait to tell you how Brazil and China now dominates over the American farmer.

      Again if it were not for pesticides, we would not be able to feed the USA. Period.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 4 times, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • While I agree with much of your reply, my post was prompted by a mass poisoning occurring within India several decades ago.

      While an undergraduate, I enrolled in a botany class. To fulfill an assignment, I wrote a paper detailing how the USA shipped to India as well as to other countries, tons of wheat for the purpose of planting. Unscrupulous distributors intercepted the bags of grain and sold the wheat at markets for flour. Many folks were amused by the pink tint the flour had. Unbeknownst to the bakers, the wheat had been laced with a pesticide/fertilizer combination to inhibit rodents and enhance sprouting in nutrient poor soil. Once the wheat was removed from the shipping bags, downstream sellers and consumers did not know of the contamination. Although the bags were clearly labeled as seed stock and not for human consumption, the warnings were in English.

      I was not able to determine an exact count, but thousands of victims suffered permanent injury, miscarriages, with pregnant women giving birth to grievously handicapped infants.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Dan76 wrote:

      While I agree with much of your reply, my post was prompted by a mass poisoning occurring within India several decades ago.

      While an undergraduate, I enrolled in a botany class. To fulfill an assignment, I wrote a paper detailing how the USA shipped to India as well as to other countries, tons of wheat for the purpose of planting. Unscrupulous distributors intercepted the bags of grain and sold the wheat at markets for flour. Many folks were amused by the pink tint the flour had. Unbeknownst to the bakers, the wheat had been laced with a pesticide/fertilizer combination to inhibit rodents and enhance sprouting in nutrient poor soil. Once the wheat was removed from the shipping bags, downstream sellers and consumers did not know of the contamination. Although the bags were clearly labeled as seed stock and not for human consumption, the warnings were in English.

      I was not able to determine an exact count, but thousands of victims suffered permanent injury, miscarriages, with pregnant women giving birth to grievously handicapped infants.
      Very interesting. Sad, but a lot can be learned from it.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I was on many ships carrying wheat to other countries, although it was mostly given to third world countries meant for comsumption. we used to call it "hand-shake" cargo due to the image of two clasping hands on the bags along with the words, "a gift of the people of the united states". I have no idea what happens to the bags after they are unloaded, but I witnessed many times the long shore men busting the bags and stuffing the wheat in their clothes. it was sorta funny watching all the bloated workers leaving the ship after their shift. was it just poor people trying to feed their families or were they selling the wheat? don't know, but they probably couldn't read English or even their own language.
    • Most likely this was the incident, as the time frame is correct. However for some reason I incorrectly recalled the the affected country as India. I also recall relabeling bags of corn as originating from the USSR.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Dan76 wrote:

      Most likely this was the incident, as the time frame is correct. However for some reason I incorrectly recalled the the affected country as India. I also recall relabeling bags of corn as originating from the USSR.
      When you get as old as me - you will recall fuzzy feather facts... It will leave when you scratch your head.

      [IMG:https://i.imgur.com/N60Tw.gif]
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup: