corn fritters

'it is told that when we, the hopi, arrived at the place we now live, corn kernels and a planting stick were the only things given to us for our survival. therefor, corn to hopi people literally represents life, and the use of it within hopi culture is ubiquitous." susan secakuku from "foods of the americas: native recipes and traditions."_______________________________________ ________ i know_ this is a gardening blog...but gardening is about growing food and understanding where it comes from and what goes into its production...a grounding in what it means to be native to an ecosystem...so cooking is germane to the issues at hand...maize is central to the food cultures of many people...my own included...stemming from a long process of diffusion...i have grown ( and will grow again just because it is just such a damned neat plant ) hopi blue maize and the maize ancestor teointe ( which i will also grow as long as i can find seed because it is a neat plant too ) so when the coach gave me a copy of the above mentioned book as a gift ( thanks mik! ) the recipe for corn and rice fritters jumped out and said "start here!"...so i did ...the recipe contains flower milk baking powder corn starch crushed red pepper rice sweet corn and parmasean cheese ( the authors of the cookbook do not claim to be exact in their interpretation of indigenous food or cooking...not strict adherence, just a flavor of native cooking along with encouragement to mix and match foods from the different cultures they write about...it's an interesting book ) and it made a baker's dozen puffy and satisfyingly filling fritters...i will be working with some of the sauce recipes the next time i make these to see where that goes and trying them out on various people to see what the reaction is...i looked in vain for cooking that was based around jerusalem artichokes..paging through "native american food plants:an ethnobotanic dictionary" by daniel e. moerman i was surprised to see how many native peoples viewed them as "famine food"...perhaps they are not seen to be as good to eat as i find them...still..a native perennial plant is something i fell compelled to work with...if they are famine food then call me hungry.