Succotashes—the whole family of luscious dishes based on corn and beans—have probably been on the menu around here since the 13th century, which is when archaeologists tell us that beans joined corn among the locally grown crops. Historic sources and oral tradition indicate that Wampanoag cooks, and later the English cooks who learned from them, made many types of succotash depending on the season, the harvest, and the hunt, as well as on the cultural origin of the cook. Native succotashes were made savory with game and gathered foods, from bear and shellfish to wild roots and walnuts. Foods introduced by colonists worked their way into the story of succotash, as substitutions for the wild foods that English land use and policies drove off, or otherwise made rare. Pork, potatoes, and turnips were tacked onto the ingredient list, even as venison and groundnuts slipped off.
Even the elemental corn and beans that were the dish’s two essential ingredients were subject to many variables. Most of the year, succotash was based on dried beans and preserved corn — corn that had been cooked, sliced from the ear and sun-dried, or air-dried hard and then processed with a wood ash solution. This latter technique loosened the hulls and exploded the kernels into addictively tasty (and nutritious) whole hominy. Each of these hearty dishes can be wonderful in its own way, but our enjoyment of a succotash made with fresh vegetables, at the height of tender sweetness, is keener for its short window of availability. It is the apotheosis of harvest time.
In early fall, we New Englanders are faced with an embarrassment of the best sweet corn of the year, and plenty of garden ingredients to complement that bounty. The perfect opportunity to rustle up a seasonal food that actually feels righteous to overeat, like May asparagus or June strawberries. At our house, we get a pile of ingredients, make a humungous potful, and consume it as our main food as long as it lasts, even at risk of “bursting asunder in the middle”. If we start thinking clearly, we freeze a few tubs of it for later, but mostly, it must be admitted, we gorge.
This completely modern personal recipe is the sort that, while always delectable, is never the same twice. Mess with the proportions, include as many or as few of the optional ingredients as appeal, and introduce your new ideas to craft your own succotash tradition.
Melt the fat in a good-sized heavy-bottomed pot or huge frying pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent. Toss in the optional garlic, the peppers, and the optional cumin. Continue cooking for a minute or two. Add the cayenne and beans, stir for a minute and then barely cover the beans with water. Add the salt, turn the heat to low, and cover the pan.
Cook until beans are tender to bite, but not mushy, which can be anywhere from 15 to 35 minutes, depending on the beans’ maturity and dryness. If you are using the optional squash and tomatoes, toss them in and turn the heat back to medium. Cook and stir for a few minutes. When the squash is beginning to be tender, and the tomatoes have collapsed, add the corn. Toss to coat, turn down the heat, and cover. Cook until the corn is as done as you like it. Turn off the heat and let it meld awhile if you have time. Adjust seasonings.
If you want to use cream and/or scallions, stir in and simmer for a second late in the cooking. If you’re into the basil option, add it seconds before the succotash hits the table.
Serve hot or warm to 3 or 4 people crazed with the joy of the harvest season.
The only sticking point in making succotash these days is that very few farmers bring old-fashioned shell beans to market any longer. If you didn’t plant cranberry or lima or scarlet runner beans yourself back in May, prepare to do a bit of scouting for anything fresh in the shell. Ask around at your farmers’ market and snap them up whenever you see them.
Back in Winter 2010, edible South Shore printed an 1883 recipe for “Plymouth Succotash”, the traditional dinner of the town’s annual Forefathers’ Day. Insofar as it is based on hulled corn and dried beans and meat, that super-hearty succotash contains at its core a nugget of Wampanoag winter cooking. But a couple of centuries of English/Yankee farming had transformed a dish that in Native hands had been flavored and garnished with wild meats, birds, and fish, into one grounded in the barnyard, full of corned beef, fowl and salt pork. Worlds apart, but great sustenance for a small army in cold weather in any case.
That recipe, which originated with Plymouth’s Eliza Eddy Churchill and was printed in Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook-Book can be found at:
Succotash is a corn and lima bean dish that often includes tomatoes, peppers, and okra. Its name comes from the Narragansett (a Native American language that was once spoken in the area that is now Rhode Island) word “sohquttahhash,” which roughly translates to “broken corn kernels.”
The recipe is used with permission from Southern My Way: Simple Recipes, Fresh Flavors by Gena Knox, available on Amazon.
The post-Colonial agrarian stew has evolved into a modern-day summer side dish consisting mainly of corn and any variety of beans like lima, butter or navy. Inexpensive to make and colorful to the eye, succotash took up residence on tables across America as a protein-based and vegetable tagalong to meat and potatoes. Made fresh, succotash is a festive addition to grilled chicken or seared fish.
Add tomatoes, vinegar and olive oil to bean mixture and season with salt to taste. Allow to sit at room temperature until ready to serve.
Summer SuccotashI love this dish because it is light and fresh and always reminds me of hot summer days. Serve it as a cold salad or at room temperature with fish or chicken.
Yield: 4 servingsNutrient Breakdown: Calories200, Fat 4.5g (0.5g saturated fat); Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 40mg, Carbohydrate 33g, Fiber 6g, Protein 8g. Percent Daily Value: 10% Iron, 4% Calcium, 10% Vitamin A, 30% Vitamin CCarbohydrate Choices: 2 CarbohydratesDiabetes Exchange Values: 2 Starches, 1 Fat
Melt the fat in a good-sized heavy-bottomed pot or huge frying pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent. Toss in the optional garlic, the peppers, and the optional cumin. Continue cooking for a minute or two. Add the cayenne and beans, stir for a minute and then barely cover the beans with water. Add the salt, turn the heat to low, and cover the pan.
Serve hot or warm to 3 or 4 people crazed with the joy of the harvest season.
Succotashes—the whole family of luscious dishes based on corn and beans—have probably been on the menu around here since the 13th century, which is when archaeologists tell us that beans joined corn among the locally grown crops. Historic sources and oral tradition indicate that Wampanoag cooks, and later the English cooks who learned from them, made many types of succotash depending on the season, the harvest, and the hunt, as well as on the cultural origin of the cook. Native succotashes were made savory with game and gathered foods, from bear and shellfish to wild roots and walnuts. Foods introduced by colonists worked their way into the story of succotash, as substitutions for the wild foods that English land use and policies drove off, or otherwise made rare. Pork, potatoes, and turnips were tacked onto the ingredient list, even as venison and groundnuts slipped off.
That recipe, which originated with Plymouth’s Eliza Eddy Churchill and was printed in Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook-Book can be found at:
The only sticking point in making succotash these days is that very few farmers bring old-fashioned shell beans to market any longer. If you didn’t plant cranberry or lima or scarlet runner beans yourself back in May, prepare to do a bit of scouting for anything fresh in the shell. Ask around at your farmers’ market and snap them up whenever you see them.
Why Do Southerners Keep This Recipe A Secret??? | Succotash Recipe
FAQ
What are some fun facts about succotash?
What is the word root of succotash?
What does Msickquatash mean in Native American?
What is succotash in English?
What is succotash?
Succotash is a corn and lima bean dish that often includes tomatoes, peppers, and okra. Its name comes from the Narragansett (a Native American language that was once spoken in the area that is now Rhode Island) word “sohquttahhash,” which roughly translates to “broken corn kernels.”
Where does succotash come from?
It gets its name from an English spelling of a Native American word that refers to a cooked pot of corn. The dish has gone through many changes over the years, but always includes some type of corn and beans, along with other vegetables. It also often contains a pork product such as bacon. How do you make succotash?
Why is succotash called a sahquttahhash?
The name succotash is derived from the Narragansett word sahquttahhash, which means “broken corn kernels”. Other ingredients may be added, such as onions, potatoes, turnips, tomatoes, bell peppers, corned beef, salt pork, or okra. Combining a grain with a legume provides a dish that is high in all essential amino acids.
What is succotash made of?
Succotash is a North American vegetable dish consisting primarily of sweet corn with lima beans or other shell beans. The name succotash is derived from the Narragansett word sahquttahhash, which means “broken corn kernels”.