The Proof of the Pudding: Of Haggis, Hasty Pudding, and Transatlantic Influence

Joel Barlow's 1793 poem, 'The Hasty Pudding,' praises the Native American's corn dish for its simplicity, which he equates with the purity of the American colonials' struggle, yet he personifies the corn to the point where his words speak of symbolic cannibalism of American Indians. This work is comparable to, and perhaps derivative of, Scottish poet Robert Burns' 'Ode to a Haggis,' another work which sought to encourage a national identity through praising food.