Gordon Makes Hominy | Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

It's the day before the Big Cook, and I've got one last very important stop. On the border of the Great Smoky Mountains is the national park that is inhabited by the Cherokee Indians. I've heard that there is a Cherokee dish that I need to taste to believe.

We are right in the thick of the woods. Malia, there you are! "Sho d CH gami." What does that mean? It means "hello, Gordon, and how are you?" Oh my, I'm so happy to be here.

Now, homon. Harmony. Harmony EXC. Harmony Hony is a very unique traditional Native American food. It's basically corn on steroids, and I'm finally about to see how it's made. The process of turning the corn into harmony just relies on this ash—this Hickory Ash, and the corn, and water, and heat. Really?

Yeah, first off, if you can finish getting the rest of these kernels off. And once you get a few of them, see? You're looking like a pro! Gotta! And then, we're going to come over with our Ash and go over to the fire. That Ash will turn it black, won't it?

It's the lie that's in the ash that we need to remove the coat off of the kernels. It makes it easier to digest. Now, I know why there's such a buzz around this dish. There is lie in Hickory ash, which is extremely corrosive. I'm excited to be showing what this unique ingredient will do to Humble Cor B kernels.

And it also makes some more amino acids available to you, and you have less vitamin deficiencies. It makes sense that the Cherokee developed a recipe that would maximize nutrients, but I'm not sold on this dish just yet.

So, does the ash turn it bitter? It doesn't turn it bitter, but it does give it a different taste. Yeah, see? It doesn't look appetizing. Well, I'm sure sometimes when you make a dish, it doesn't look that appetizing until you're all the way done, right?

Malia has obviously never seen me cook. While we wait for this caustic mixture to work its magic, I learn about the traditional way of grinding corn straight in. Yes? Yeah, all right. Does that go in there? You just— "which is that right round pound?" What do you think?

Well, it looks like the sort of that ends too big for the hole, but then that doesn't—no, let's try this one. How many kids do you have? Well, no M please, girl, honestly.

So, all right, I'll give you a little help. I'll give you a little help. It won't go down the hole. Turn it around. Oh, you do turn it around. You do turn it around. So, the secret is not to go too hard, right?

Right. I'll have to teach you how to say "help me" in Cherokee. "She she." Oh, Stella! It means help, and right now I need a ton of it!

So, you are using a lot. Am I? Look how slow you're going! We're smarter, not harder. Yes, yes ma'am, indigenous science. Gotcha, slow and steady. Here we go.

Doesn't feel right. I'm sure you'd like to keep watching me awkwardly poke around, but thankfully it's time to try our homon, which has been thoroughly rinsed and mixed with beans.

That looks—I mean it's almost like a sort of French casset, you know, like a bean stew? Yeah, M. See, that's lovely. Been waiting for that all day. That is delicious! Oh my God! The corn and the beans on a different level—she elevated that dish into something quite luxurious.

That Cherokee history is so prevalent today, and I need to tap into that. If I don't tap into that, I'm dead meat. See? See? Thank you! [Music] Want to see more from my Uncharted Adventures? Please click here to watch more clips.