The Crispy Cornbread-Like Snacks That Abraham Lincoln Ate By The Pocketful

Even such legendary figures as Abraham Lincoln chew their food one bite at a time, and Honest Abe actually had some pretty common food preferences. One of his favorite White House breakfasts consisted of an egg and toast, while his preferred presidential libations were water or milk. (This checks out, since he never seemed like a champagne and caviar kind of guy.) Other dishes he was known to have enjoyed included apples, apple pie, oyster stew, and chicken fricassee, as well as something called corn dodgers. The latter was a snack that dated from his childhood days when he would pack it to eat while doing farm chores or taking a break with a book.

So what, exactly, are corn dodgers? They consist of corn batter that is either fried in a pan, boiled in a pot, or baked in an oven. Frying would make them pretty much identical to hush puppies, but if they were baked on a griddle, they might have been more like hoecakes or Rhode Island johnnycakes. As for the boiled ones, perhaps they would have been similar to the Dominican corn dumplings known as bollitos de maíz. We don't know for sure how Lincoln's corn dodgers were cooked, but he was definitely eating something cornbread-adjacent.

Abe Lincoln enthusiasts may think of corn dodgers in conjunction with their favorite former POTUS, but he's not the only celebrity associated with the dish. For old movie fans, corn dodgers might bring to mind thoughts of John Wayne, since Rooster Cogburn ate them in the classic 1969 western "True Grit." The corn dodgers in the movie, which was set in 1870s Arkansas, may have been made from nothing but corn meal, salt, bacon drippings or lard, and hot water, and they were said to have been fried in raccoon fat. (According to the storyline, that is. It's more likely that the prop department made them with Crisco or vegetable oil.) These corn dodgers seem to have been pretty quick to dry out, since at one point in the movie, Cogburn used them for target practice. This doesn't speak well of either the texture or flavor, although some old-timey recipes incorporated a pinch of sugar, which might have made for some improvement.

Yet another American hero who was known to have eaten corn dodgers as a kid was George Washington Carver. Long before he became major player in the history of peanuts in America, Carver was said to have packed corn dodgers in his school lunch pail. Today, we can dip our corn dodgers in ketchup or tartar sauce, or serve them with butter and syrup, to truly enjoy this beloved historical treat.