Adapted from Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, 1964.
Maybe you’re like me and enjoy reading with an eye to the food being consumed in the narrative. For example, not long ago I reread The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Of course I was soon enjoying the idea of Mamma Corleone’s sandwiches with fried peppers straight from the pan, dripping with olive oil. In another scene, Clemenza’s huge pot of homemade meat ragù simmering on the stove drew my attention too.
Comfort rereading has been such a a joy in 2020 and recently led me back to Youngblood Hawke (1962), one of Herman Wouk’s lesser-known novels. One of my favorite passages in the book involves a home-cooked meal of corn fritters and link sausages, followed quickly by a seduction.
Herman Wouk doesn’t speculate on the connection between corn fritters and a successful seduction, so we will leave that question to the literati.
But there’s no doubt that I’ve loved corn fritters since trying them on a frosty February Saturday morning in 1975. Since then, corn fritters have been a frequent Saturday morning treat. We love to serve and eat them with Highland County maple syrup.
Remember too that freshly-grated nutmeg is one of the world’s best aromas and flavors. Get a few whole nutmegs
and use a nutmeg grater such as this Norpro model, or a microplane.
4 eggs
1 large can cream-style corn (14.75 ounces)
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Break 4 eggs into a medium-size mixing bowl and whisk until well mixed. Whisk in the can of corn.
Add 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and whisk in.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When it has reached the point of fragrance, add spoonsful of batter with a tablespoon. When the bottoms of the cakes are brown, flip them and brown on the other side. Serve at once with maple syrup.