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The Great Cornbread
Conundrum: The Problem: For the first few years,
there was something missing at ÒSomething DifferentÓ: Cornbread, in at least
one of its infinite iterations, is featured at just about every traditional
Southern eatery and barbecue joint – and with good reason. Cornbreads
are simple and quick, easy to make, and the perfect accompaniment for
barbecue, soups, seafood and just about anything else. It is one of those
ÒcomfortÓ things deeply engrained in American culture. We make our own buns
and subs but we have customers who have problems with wheat flour, and so we
wanted to offer a gluten-free alternative. The Cornundrum: Many restaurants make cornbread on sheet pans in the
morning, allow it to cool and serve it all day long. It soon gets dry and
crumbly and loses the moist, steamy ÒgoodnessÓ of fresh cornbread. Most of
the time it wonÕt even melt butter. Many barbecue joints throughout the South
bake corn sticks or fry hushpuppies. To get that nice crunchy crust on corn
sticks you need to bake them in hot, cast iron molds, which we donÕt have. We
would also need to operate an extra oven just for corn sticks – it gets
hot enough in our deli in the summertime, thank you. Hushpuppies are easy and
good, but quickly mess up cooking oil and require a separate fryer. I never found a recipe that I thought
would work for us. Most modern recipes for cornbread and hushpuppies call for
wheat flour and sugar – no help for the gluten intolerant and an
affront to cornbread connoisseurs. The Solution: Enter the homely, primitive
and mostly forgotten hoecake. Eminently practical and delicious, hoecakes
(AKA Johnnycakes, journeycakes, griddlecakes) are the simplest and quickest
of all cornmeal quick breads. We have the grill on all of the time anyway, so
there is no problem with dropping a few globs of batter for a fresh batch.
Wet and dry ingredients can be mixed ahead of time and combined, along with a
liquid (we use buttermilk) as needed. They are good hot or cold and travel
well for parties and catering. They are great for breakfast slathered with
butter and topped with syrup, molasses, honey or jelly. As far as I know, nobody
else in the business makes hoecakes, but, after all, we are ÒSomething
DifferentÓ! The Story: When English settlers first
came to
photo by Dan Gill Remnants of Colonial era tobacco hoes and an Indian grindstone, used
to grind corn, acorns and seeds into meal. Found on Remlik Hall Farm
(patented 1648-50) o
Ashcakes, as the name implies, were
simply pones (oblong pieces of dough about two inches thick, from the
Algonquin word ÒapponeÓ) covered with hot ashes to bake. When done, the ashes
were brushed off and the pones sometimes rinsed in water. Pones were often
coated with dry meal or wrapped in leaves or cornhusks when available, to
keep them relatively ash free. o
Hoecakes: From Maryland on South,
practically every settler owned a tobacco hoe for planting and cultivating:
Not like our modern light garden hoes but, forged from heavy iron, they were
wide and flat with an iron strap on the back side for inserting a handle. A
quick tap on the ground dislodged the handle and the blade could then be
placed over the fire or on coals for a makeshift griddle. Thus, in the South,
corn cakes cooked on a griddle or on top of a wood stove are called
ÒhoecakesÓ. I have found the remnants of several colonial Òtobacco hoesÓ
around our farm and I have one at the store that the pigs rooted up last
winter. The flat top of the firebox on ÒOld 97Ó makes an excellent griddle
and I plan to put it to good use at the Oinkster Festival. o
In the Northern colonies, there were not
many hoes but lots of rocks. Travelers could cook corn cakes on hot rocks, or
fix a mess before they left home, to eat on the trail. These little cakes
traveled well and were infinitely better than hard tack, so they acquired the
name Òjourney cakesÓ, which was eventually corrupted to ÒJohnny cakesÓ. Food
historians have other versions of the story, but I like this one so IÕm
sticking to it. o
Bannock bread was baked by radiant heat
on a flat board (called a bannock board) inclined before a fire. During the
War Between the States, a soldier could prop his tin cups up in front of the
fire as a small bannock board. o
Dodgers were small patties of stiff
cornmeal dough fried in oil or fat. Later, when onions were added, they
became ÒhushpuppiesÓ. o
Mush (porridge, gruel) is simply
cornmeal, water and a little salt boiled in a pot until smooth. Once popular
for breakfast, mush has fallen from grace – probably because of the
unappetizing names. Italians re-introduced it as polenta and it is
experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Cold mush can be sliced, rolled in
flour and fried. When made with eggs and milk, mush becomes batter. The
epitome of batter breads is spoon bread – light, rich and a test of any
good cook. As the country became more settled,
cooking methods improved and cornbreads became more sophisticated. Dutch
ovens and spiders (cast iron frying pans with three legs for hearth cooking)
allowed backcountry housewives to make true cornbread. The more primitive
hoecakes, ashcakes and bannock bread soon fell from favor, as they were associated
with a class of people too poor and backwards to make proper cornbread. Eggs
and milk or buttermilk were often added and cornbreads were baked in an oven.
Some innocent but misguided souls, obviously putting on airs, added flour and
sugar or molasses culminating in Anadama bread. The Recipe: I started my experiments with
traditional hoecakes: cornmeal, water and salt. They were good. Then I added
minced onion, eggs and baking soda and replaced the water with buttermilk to
get more rise and flavor. They were better. Then one evening I added minced
jalape–os and canned corn and the ÒSomething Different Jalape–o hoecakeÓ was
born – moist and flavorful but not really spicy as jalape–os just add
an assertive dimension. It took a while for customers to figure out what they
were, but now we make them all the time. This basic recipe can be used for
muffins, cornbread or hushpuppies. Something Different Jalape–o Hoecakes Dry Pre-Mix for three batches: 6 cups (2 lbs.) finely ground corn meal 2 tsp salt 2 tsp adobo con pimento seasoning 3 tsp (1 Tbsp) baking soda Wet Pre-mix for about 3 batches 1 Cup Jalapeno peppers, drained 1 1/2 Cups onion – about 1 medium Pulse in food processor to mince 1 – 15 oz can corn, drained 3/8 Cup Olive oil Pulse briefly Pack in ½ Pint (1 cup) Containers To make 1 batch or about 20, 3-4 inch
hoecakes 1 Pint (2 cups) dry mix in mixing bowl ½ Pint (1 cup) wet premix In empty premix container lightly beat 2
eggs Stir into dry ingredients Shake buttermilk and stir in about 1 cup
or enough for a fairly stiff batter. Drop by spoonfuls on hot oiled griddle
and level with the back of the spoon. Flip when bubbles appear on the upper
surface Bile dem cabbage down Once I had an old gray mule How
that mule would kick He
kicked with his dying breath He
shoved his hind feet down his throat Traditional
Appalachian fiddle tune Something Different Country Store and Deli More Blurbs from a Country Store
Published in Pleasant Living
magazine September- October 2006 Previous: BBQ 101, Part III: The Meat |
