And cracked dried corn, properly called samp, is often labeled as hominy, too.

WSJ: Hominy Is Back on the Menu

In places like Syria and southern Iraq that are now being dried out by the Turkish dams, irrigation is primitive - often involving nothing more than water trucks pumping water out of the Euphrates and driving it over to fields that are often less than a kilometer away.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: America's exceptional ally

Made from ingredients that were often on hand and relatively nonperishable (such as cornmeal, bacon grease, dried beans, grits and fatback), the beans and cornbread supper was easy to prepare and could keep for several days.

NPR: Beans and Cornbread: Feeding Souls a Mile Deep