Mush

Last week I was checking out a newspaper column, COOK'S CORNER by Linda Ciero. I have always enjoyed this column, but this day I took particular notice because of the huge picture of Neese's Liver Pudding across the top of the page. Even on a good morning the mention of liver can be a little offsetting. The column, as it turned out, was a discussion of livermush or as some call it liver pudding. The columnist was trying to help a lady find a recipe for livermush so that she could make it for her grandfather who was pining for his mama's sandwiches.

The first time I left Indiana it was to live in Massachusetts. I remember the feeling of searching for a particular food because it would remind me of home. In 1968 the Pittsfield, Massachusetts grocery store meat department did not carry packages of “breaded pork tenderloin” which was and still is a Fort Wayne, Indiana meat department staple. I was such an inexperienced homemaker at the time that I didn't know that you needed a recipe to prepare “breaded pork tenderloin.” You can imagine my embarrassment when the butcher asked me which cut of meat was I needing to prepare “breaded pork tenderloin.” Sadly years later I found out that my beloved “breaded pork tenderloin” was really Indiana's knock-off version of Wiener Schnitzel.

Well, back to the livermush---it was surprising to read how many people had thoughts about livermush. Some folks thought the lady was really looking for liverwurst, braunschweiger, goose liver pate, or scrapple. Some folks even knew that there were laws about making livermush. It has to be 30%

pork liver which can include meat from the hog's head. In most states all that yummy goodness is mixed with cornmeal, but in South Carolina it can be mixed with rice. Who knew!?!

Actually. I did know. Back in 1969 our family (year old son and husband) moved to Hickory, North Carolina. I was so excited to find livermush. I had a baby with a wheat allergy and I loved fried “mush.” Well it turned out that North Carolina livermush was not my kind of “mush” and my son did not like it.

Sadly to say I never lost my hankering for my kind of “fried mush.” Over the years I have shared this love of “mush” with colleagues here in Wilmington, NC. For many years during my trips to Indiana, I tried to figure out a way to bring my kind of “mush” back to Wilmington. I wanted my fellow workers to know and appreciate what I was missing.

Happily to report that last summer I accomplished my mission. With the help of my granddaughter and my sister, I was able to leave Indianapolis with frozen rolls of my kind of “mush.” I wrapped those precious rolls of Jaxon Cornmeal Mush in newspaper and stuffed them in my suitcase. However, when the time came for me to share my loot with my friends, they were not that impressed. Not because it wasn't tasty, but because they had eaten it all their lives. They just called it another name---fried grits!!!