Despite the name, Indian pudding is not a Native American dish adapted by colonist cooks. It got its name simply because early settlers considered anything made with corn to be “Indian” in nature. In its most primitive form— beaten corn, boiled with milk—it kept the Pilgrims alive, and as the first adaptation of an English recipe (for wheat meal and milk, known as “hasty pudding”), it signifies nothing less than the beginning of American cookery. Its fundamental mixture of cornmeal and molasses tastes like history, as basic a foodstuff as bread itself. An extremely long cooking time—up to ten hours—is necessary to soften the corn and for the flavors to meld, and although some restaurants add raisins or other flavorings, the only traditional add-on is a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Indian pudding usually is served as dessert by the steaming bowlful, but, like apple pie, it can be found in town cafes serving double duty as breakfast.
Indian pudding is dark and serious, but it welcomes a scoop of ice cream on top.
Indian pudding is one of New England’s founding comfort foods, but for newcomers to Yankee cooking, it is, to say the least, an acquired taste. How well we recall many years ago sitting at a shared table in Boston’s Durgin-Park (a bastion of culinary tradition) and recommending it to a North Carolinian who had just enjoyed a meal of prime rib. He took our advice and spooned into it. “Grits for dessert!” he exclaimed, looking not a little befuddled.