Cush Cush - That’s what Cajuns do…

Who remembers A. J. Judice’s “cheer” as a crawfish ambassador?

Hot boudain and cold cush cush.

Come on crawfish, push, push push.

My grandma loved cush cush. Whenever she made cornbread, she would save some crumbles in the lid of the rice pot by the stove for her supper. She’d simply add them to a bowl of milk, with sugar, I guess. I was NOT interested.

I’m also told this is not exactly authentic cush cush, couche couche or coush coush. There’s more ways to spell this dish than boudain/boudin.

I know this staple is part of the Cajun heritage. I’ve never had the occasion or particular desire to try it. Yet, I love hearing stories about it.

Charlene, a reader from Port Neches, shared some Cajun foodie memories, because “that’s what Cajuns do.” As a kid she hated the smell of roux and had to go outside when her momma made it, which was pretty often.

“My mom used to make cush cush for me,” she continued. “She would fry cornmeal and maybe a little salt, in a cast iron skillet. I had my bowl of milk, and the cornmeal was hot and crunchy and would sizzle when it hit the cold milk. You had to eat it quickly before it got soggy. I was never a fan of cornbread and milk... too mushy.”

 Wait, there’s more!

“My dad would get a slice of fresh white bread (Evangeline Maid was sooo good), put cracklins on and top it with syrup for a fold over sandwich.”

“So many other memories, like fish courtbuillon (coobeeon), jambalaya and gumbo. When I was in elementary school, my mom started making boudain and selling it from home now and then, just to make a little extra money. I remember thinking it was a lot of work for not much profit,” Charlene shared.

“My daddy would get sacks of oysters and the men would sit outside with gloves and paring knives to shuck them to be cooked. Cocktail sauce, crackers and beer was involved. I think less than half the oysters made it to the house to be cooked. I can remember my mom commenting that that big bunch of oysters didn't yield very many to cook.”

The secret is out about those oysters, Charlene. Now, I have GOT to try that fold over sandwich.

She ended her memory with this:

“I didn't mean to make this so long, but I guess my whole childhood was lots of food memories. That's what Cajuns do.”

Area author Jim LaBove, a Cajun artist and ambassador hailing from Sabine Pass, stresses cush cush is not simply cornbread in milk. He spells it couche-couche and pronounces it coosh-coosh.

“In Cajundom, couche-couche is a cornmeal batter cooked in a cast iron skillet, often with a lid. It seems like this was kinda used as a breakfast meal, but I’m sure others have served it at other times,” he said.

I figure he’s a good source, having written a whole book on gumbo, available from www.cottons-seafood.com.

On my mother’s bookshelf, I found a copy of “Simply Cajun,” a hand-written book by Judi Benoit of China, Texas. She included the following three-line recipe:

Coose

Mix a tiny bit of water with 2 cups of corn meal. Fry in an iron skillet ‘til crisp. Serve with cream and sugar!  

What’s your cush cush story?

Cush Cush is another open debate.  Variations I’ve heard about include crumbling up your cornbread mush into a bowl of coffee milk… This one is very new to me.

Keep those memories flowing.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who would can’t decide if she likes seafood or chicken and sausage gumbo best. Share with her via panews@panews.com