By the way, discussion today with a friend raised an issue I’d like to clarify. The above is a reconstruction. AFAICT, no recipe for the original dish survives. So, succotash derives from an Algonquian word, msickquatash, which is variously translated as cooked corn or cracked corn, but generally understood to mean a dish of starchy corn with beans. Most sources agree the corn was treated with wood ash to remove hulls and that the beans would have been something like cranberry beans as limas didn’t grow that far north. Other than this, no one agrees on anything and I’ve been unable to locate a primary source giving a detailed description, much less a recipe.
So, I imagined myself working up the recipe had I lived there at the time, for which this article about native American horticulture gave me a good frame of reference. Then I translated that concept recipe to modern terms, as I’m not trying to feed a homesick Wompanoag (the tribe which introduced the dish to the Pilgrims). In particular, where the original probably included foraged vegetables and/or herbs, I went with the conventional modern base of onion, carrot and celery. Also, where the original apparently generally was flavored with venison or fish, I went with plain pork shoulder. Or, of course, the meat can be omitted for a vegetarian dish. In fact, it probably was often prepared that way of necessity, as this was one of the ways they got through lean winter months. And I added salt, which may not have been typical, plus black pepper and bay leaf, which certainly would have been unknown. Finally, where this probably was prepared in a single clay pot, I cooked the hominy and beans separately so I could be sure neither overcooked.
This turned out to be one of the more interesting new recipes I’ve tried in a while. Perhaps most surprising is that I can’t think of a way to improve it. Really wants to be a simple combination of hominy and beans, with only the lightest touch of supporting flavors.
