A hush puppy is a deep fried hot bread made of cornmeal. Hush puppies are especially popular in the southern United States.

Fry hush puppies the next time the fishermen in your family return home with a catch. Decide to serve this corn bread with the fish and you’re well on the road to a wonderful fish supper.

Fishermen named the bread, which originated around Southern camp-fires. “Hush, puppies,” they called, as they tossed corncakes to whining dogs to quiet them. Now hush puppies are almost as important as fish at a Southern fish fry. The liking for this deep-fat-fried corn bread traveled across country. Packaged mixes for making it are available in many areas.

You can fry the bread in your kitchen. The trick is to cook hush puppies until they are golden all over and done inside. Success depends on using the correct temperature, measured with a deep-fat-frying thermometer, and in dropping small portions of batter into the hot fat.

HUSH PUPPIES

Hush puppies and fish coated with cornmeal and fried—what a team!

Ingredients:

1 ½ c. white or yellow cornmeal

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ c. finely chopped onion (or green onions)

¼ c. buttermilk

1/3 c. water

Combine the cornmeal, the salt and the baking soda and then stir in the chopped onion. Add the buttermilk and the water, and stir just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Drop this mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls into hot oil (375 degrees) and fry until golden brown, turning once. Remove the hush puppies from the hot oil with a long-handled slotted spoon.

Drain the hot hush puppies on paper towels to help remove the oil. Serve at once.

Makes about 35 to 40 hush puppies.

If you have never tried hush puppies, you just don’t know what you are missing. You just can’t eat fried fish without some delicious hush puppies on the side.

For some delicious fish ideas try Cooking Pompano.