Sunday night we decided to bring back an old tradition with my Dad at the stove. As far back as I can remember my grandparents made coush-coush for us, to me it was a special treat for them it was a staple. Coush-coush is basically water and cornmeal and a bit of salt and pepper steamed in a heavy bottom pot to create a nutty flavored dish that is served over a fried egg and on special occasions shrimp stew. The Coush-Coush itself is dry but with the runny egg underneath creates yummy soft lumps of mealy goodness. Sounds odd? For me it's more than comfort food, it's the epitome of nostalgia. I can remember my grandfather giving me my first lesson in how to eat this stuff- always with a tall glass of milk to wash it down. And the best part has to be the crust that forms on the bottom of the pot. My dad talks about how him and his six siblings would fight over the it!
Coush-Coush:
3 cups white cornmeal
salt and pepper(2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper)
water
vegetable oil
cover bottom of pot with oil, making sure to coat the sides of pot with oil. In separate bowl mix cornmeal with salt and pepper and stir n small amounts of water at a time until cornmeal resembles wet sand. Then place mixture in oiled pot and put on low heat. Cover pot to allow steaming. Check on corn meal every 10 minutes, stirring but careful not to scrape bottom pot. Do this until cornmeal is fluffy and loose (abut 45 minutes), some clumping may occur (the lumps were my grandfathers favorite, putting them into his milk)
Pour cornmeal into a separate bowl and invert crust onto separate plate.
Serve this over fried eggs or Shrimp stew with a tall glass of cold milk.
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