Charles Street Indian Pudding

(Why yes, it is rather unattractive)

Sigh. The recipe said two hours, but it was more like six. Don't stir it-you'll be tempted, but it does sacrifice the texture a bit. This was just on the borderline of being too heavily spiced (the allspice in particular). Mr. Eat The Blog really loved it and had a couple servings (with ice cream-yikes) but I could only manage about a spoonful. Danny was kind of indifferent to it. It was very rich and dense, so you might want to serve it with whipped cream or ice cream (because there aren't enough calories in it already...) to break it up a bit.

The recipe doesn't say just where on Charles Street (Boston) it originated. I knew a real freak of a dude that lived in a basement apartment on Charles Street that was crawling with roaches and always smelled like dirty socks. I don't think this recipe is attributed to him. I think they are trying to evoke the "nice" things about Charles Street like the antique shops and the pretty gas-lit streetlights that every couple of years would blow and there would be projectile sewer covers sailing down historic Charles Street.... come for the recipes, stay for the disturbing stories! Well, anyway, here's the pudding recipe:

From The New York Times Heritage Cookbook by, Jean Hewitt

4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
Butter
Ice Cream, Heavy cream, or hard sauce

Pour three cups of milk in a large pot. Bring jut to the boil. Moisten the cornmeal with the water and add rapidly to the milk stirring with a wire whisk to prevent clumping. Reduce heat to simmer and cook twenty minutes stirring frequently.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the spices, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add to the mush. Stir in molasses. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Pour the last cup of cold milk carefully over the top. Dot with butter and bake two hours (again, mine took a total of six but it might depend on the cornmeal you use). Serve hot with ice cream, heavy cream hard sauce or antacids.