Wet corn-meal, salted to taste, with enough cold water to make a soft
dough, and let it stand half an hour or longer; mold it into an oblong
cake, about an inch and a half or two inches thick. A clean spot should
then be swept on the hot hearth, the bread placed on it, and covered
with hot wood-ashes. The bread is thus steamed before it is baked. It
should be done in a half to three-quarters of an hour, and brushed and
wiped before eaten. There is no better food than this for dyspeptics
inclined to acidity of the stomach, on account of the alkaline
properties of the ashes left in the crust. In other extreme cases of
dyspepsia where acids are required, I have heard of cures being effected
by the use of buttermilk.