Hasty pudding is a pudding or porridge grain cooked in milk or water; it's closest American cousin is the famous grits of the South. The North American version, also known as corn mush or Indian mush, in its simplest form is corn meal cooked slowly in water until it thickens. It may be eaten hot, or left to cool and solidify. Slices of the cold pudding may then be fried. Hasty pudding was once a popular American food because of its low cost, long shelf life, and versatility, and was eaten with both sweet and savory accompaniments, such as maple syrup, molasses, or salted meat. Hasty pudding, itself, is memorialized in a verse of the early American song Yankee Doodle: Fath'r and I went down to camp Along with Captain Goodin', And there we saw the men and boys As thick as hasty puddin' The directions in this recipe call for long slow cooking (thus making the name a misnomer), but these days the slow-cooker might be a good alternative way to go. From the New England chapter of the United States Regional Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, 1947.