An Old-Fashioned Christmas Feast on the Farm: Cornmeal Mush

I have happily eaten the exact same thing with a less-than-appetizing name every Christmas morning for approximately the past 20 years: mush. My grandmother made it every morning for my dad and his five siblings after they finished the barn work and before they went to school. My grandma made it for me a few times for breakfast when I was really little, and I was hooked. At some point, I decided that I’d make mush for breakfast as a Christmas gift for my dad, who now only eats it when I make it, and I’ve done it every year since. Right after Thanksgiving, he asks me if I’m going to make mush again this year. The answer is always yes.

Until a couple years ago, I didn’t realize that the non-Dutch world has a fancier version of this delicious food — polenta. Just like polenta, mush can be eaten warm like a hot cereal, or fried. Mush is typically eaten for breakfast, though my family enjoys it warm on Christmas Eve night after church (my sister lovingly calls it our yearly bowl of gruel), and fried on Christmas morning.

The routine is always the same: After church on Christmas Eve, I get out a big pot and start the water boiling while my parents, siblings, and now my husband, all hang out and eat cookies and eggnog. We all eat a bedtime snack of warm mush with butter and milk. There’s a last call for warm mush before I pour the remaining warm mush into the loaf pans and stick it in the fridge. The next morning, the slices of mush are frying while my dad finishes up in the barn and we all sit down. Breakfast has to be finished and cleaned up before any of the gift-unwrapping festivities begin.

I have no idea where this recipe originally came from — probably untold generations of Amish Mennonite women tweaking it to their liking until my grandma ended up with this gem, which is now my family’s Christmas staple.

Recipe: Cornmeal Mush

Ingredients:

  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 cups cornmeal
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • ½ cup milk

Method:

Bring the two quarts of water to a boil. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and slowly pour into the boiling water, stirring to eliminate lumps.

Boil for approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. I’ve found that stirring with a whisk like this one is most effective.

To eat like hot cereal, spoon into bowls and add butter and milk to taste. To fry later, pour the hot mush into loaf pans and refrigerate overnight or long enough for a knife to come out almost clean.

After it’s been refrigerated, cut the cold mush into strips and fry in the oil of your choice.

Fried mush pairs excellently with eggs cooked over easy, or “dippy eggs,” if you’re from Central PA. If you want to eat it like a real Dutchman, make sure to smother your mush in some King Syrup.

  • Photos: Lisa Yoder