Amish – Tomato gravy and fried mush
Bethany Shetler says others at the Wellman Mennonite Church have taken over the leadership roll for its annual Amish mush fry and tomato gravy meal. Its origin began as a suggestion by her husband, Dean, 30 years ago.
Tomato gravy – an odd blend of words for anyone who has not heard of the traditional fare for the local Amish. When the Wellman Mennonite Church was looking for a fundraising idea 30 years ago for its youth group, Bethany Shetler said she “poo-pawed” husband Dean’s suggestion for a fried mush and tomato gravy meal. She doesn’t anymore. Last year they served more than 400 people.
What began as just a church membership event has grown into an annual tradition for the surrounding community.
“People will begin in January asking when the mush fry is,” says Bethany. For some who grew up with it as common table fare, she added, the yearly breakfast is now the only time they can get their fried mush and tomato gravy fix. Such is the case with her own husband, who grew up Amish until he was 9 years old.
Bethany had not heard of tomato gravy until moving to the area. Her Mennonite family roots are in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Though there are some Mennonite communities that embrace the simple repast of fried mush and tomato gravy, her heritage didn’t include the dish. And being that it wasn’t part of her childhood experience, Bethany still has yet to develop a fondness for the meal – meaning she doesn’t make it at home.
There are as many ways to make tomato gravy as there are for mush. Bethany said some are not as sweet as the tomato gravy recipe used for the mush fry and some are creamier. The church’s recipe calls for 1½ quarts of tomato juice, 2 cups boiling water, ½ stick of butter and 1 ½ to 2 cups of sugar.
Though she adds a bit of salt, they basically leave it up to the diners to salt and pepper to their own tastes. She has heard of some people using tomato sauce or paste instead of juice.
Some on-line Amish recipes for tomato gravy call for the additions of milk, bacon drippings and honey instead of sugar.
The Amish don’t have a monopoly of tomato gravy. There are Italian recipes that call for, no surprise here, garlic and onions. Cajun recipes can include sausage and shrimp.
The fried mush is also pretty basic. It calls for a cup of flour, 4 cups of cornmeal, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons gelatin. After cooking, the mush is placed in baking pans to cool and solidify over night and the next morning the blocks of mush are cut into squares for frying.
The church servings require 14 46-ounce cans of tomato juice and 50 pounds of cornmeal. This year they will have on hand 60 pounds of cornmeal since there “wasn’t a scrap left” of the mush in 2011.
For those looking for their yearly “fix” of fried mush and tomato gravy, or their first experience with the German-American meal, the fry will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at the Wellman Mennonite Church.
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