Indigenous cuisines have always had a significant impact on ‘American’ regional menus. But many dishes the original people considered staples remain unknown or unappreciated in the mainstream today. Like Comanche Corn!
The Comanche people of the US south-west had a reputation as fierce warriors. They dominated the great plains in the 18th and early 19 centuries.
And though they didn’t employ agricul-ture, as such, they were familiar with farming products such as corn.
Comanche cuisine
Comanche cuisine was reliant on wild meat these wandering hunter-gatherers caught in their travels on a daily basis. One staple they always carried with them was dried buffalo (bison), as a fall-back when fresh meat was not available. The other was dried corn. They ‘traded or raided’ for this indispensable food with neighbouring tribes or early French and Spanish settlers they encountered.
Comanche Corn employs both of these trademark ingredients in a simple but delicious concoction that will not only tweak the taste buds but add a dimen-sion of historical awareness to your otherwise familiar menus. Not to mention opening the door to many a ‘safe’ dinner table conversation that involves neither politics nor religion.
What you need
The classic, authentic recipe uses only three ingredients two of which were originally re-hydrated from easily-transported dried states.
Dried whole sweet corn kernels were combined with dried, powdered bison meat and fresh wild onions in enough water to bring the dried ingredients ‘back to life’. The bison provided the ‘lead’ flavour, in company with the perfectly complementary onions.The corn provided the bulk mass of the dish, fibre, and bright yellow colour.
One interesting point I wondered about was, the Comanche apparently didn’t know about salt or pepper. But, since we do, I recommend you add each to taste.
I can’t, with a straight face, say you absolutely MUST go out and spend (C)$20. to $30 per lb. / (C)$44. to $66. per kg on bison. But, since the indigenous chef who supplied the recipe says it’s okay, I can recommend the alternative he suggests: fresh stewing beef. And see if you can get some on discount, with a big ‘50% OFF!’ sticker on the package.
What you do
If you were a Comanche cook, you would break out a trusty rawhide cooking pot, put in all the in-gredients and set it to cook over a small fire. It would be ‘done’ when the it had developed a creamy sauce or porridge consistency. The traditional dish was, as far as we can tell a soup-stew sort of product. Which is what you get when you start with mainly dried and/or powdered foods.
Updated, modern Comanche Corn is a slightly different dish. We can start with canned or frozen (preferred) corn kernels and the aforementioned stew beef.
You can also use canned (or your own homemade) Creamed Corn if you want the final texture of the dish to be as close to the original as possible. (Slightly different preparation technique.)
Ready, set, cook!
Finely chop a medium onion of your choice (sweet or regular/hot).
And start off actual cooking by searing the beef in a deep frying pan or large sauce pan.
Add the onions when the beef is almost done searing. Reduce temperature and cook until the onions are lightly caramelized.
Deglaze the pot with beer or beef stock.
If using corn kernels, add them now.
Simmer until the meat is fall-apart tender and the corn kernels are fork tender. Shred or chop the meat fairly finely.
Place the meat back in the pot. Stir to combine and continue simmering. Stir occasionally, until the mixture is fully re-heated.
Add beer or stock as necessary to keep the other ingredients well irrigated. If you’re using kernel corn, we want the beef and other ingredients to be covered with – but not drowned by – a thick sauce. Taste kernel corn version for salt now, and adjust if necessary.
If you’re using creamed corn microwave it to bubbling perfection in a separate mic-safe container.
If using creamed corn, serve the meat mixture over the corn.
Finish either version of the dish with a garnish of fresh cilantro…
My take
It’s easy, and relatively inexpensive. And it can be considered a main or even a one-pot meal for lunch or a light supper, with fresh bread and a tossed salad on the side.
Comanche Corn is just one easy All-(Proto)-American dish we’ll be bringing you through the be-ginning of next year.
Consider it a history lesson!
~ Maggie J.