Longhouse Hominy Grits

Mohawk chef, Dave Smoke McCluskey crafts hardwood ash washed hominy from heirloom corn in small batches and mills it to order to create his famous Longhouse Hominy Grits. The minute you open the bag the aroma will knock you over and you'll realize these are not like any grits you've ever had before. The Nixtamalization to make the hominy not only makes them more nutritious, it creates an amazing creamy texture and intense corn flavor with a whisper of smoke. They are delectable on their own, but they practically scream to be paired with savory braised greens, seared duck breast, pan fried fish or shrimp. There is so much soul and history in these Longhouse Hominy Grits. Chef McCluskey calls them "grits" because it's more recognizable, but the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) call them “Mush." From the traditional way he nixtamalizes the corn with hardwood hickory ash to his choice of Cherokee White Flour Corn this is a very hand crafted product, steeped in tradition and connection to the land. Haudenosaunee is the ancient name that means "people of the long house" and it is the original and correct term for what the Europeans called the Iroquois Nation. The Haudenosaunee consists of 6 nations including the Mohawk Nation. ABOUT CORN MAFIA Chef Dave Smoke McCluskey founded Corn Mafia to honor the most important of all Indigenous ingredients: corn. These corns, or O:nenhste as they say in Mohawk, come from landrace, Indigenous-farmed and organic sources, and Dave nixtamalizes them with hardwood ash and mills them in small batches. For Dave, who is enrolled with the Mohawks of Akwesasne, Corn Mafia is the newest chapter in a lifetime of preserving and teaching Indigenous foodways. He has spent three decades cooking, consulting and speaking about Native food from Maine to Florida. Along the way he created contemporary Native American menus at Boston’s Union Square Bistro, which got attention from The Boston Globe and a cooking demo on CBS This Morning, and he still cooks at events like Charleston Wine + Food. His Longhouse Hominy refers to not only the dwellings that Haudenosaunee people lived in, but also to the atmosphere and environment that a lot of their foods, belongings and people lived in. Longhouses are often very smokey places, and he has tried to recreate that feeling and flavor of the past in the here and now. He fire roasts his hominy after washing it to give it a signature taste of the past. Some people think Indigenous foods are or were bland. These products are meant to act as a foil to such unadventurous thoughts. What’s old is new, what’s old will never leave us.