I wonder if the great cornbread divide is because we Northerners pair cornbread with spicy things… chili, jambalaya, gumbo…and that’s usually about it. A sweet bread* makes a wonderful contrast to the acidic spiciness of those dishes. It’s like pairing a sweet wine with a spicy food for contrast and balance.
For something like black eyed peas or boiled greens with potliquor, a savory cornbread really is better. Sweet interferes with the smoky saltiness. But we rarely see those dishes up here.
*And it’s not sweet like cake is sweet. Most Northern cornbread recipes call for less than 1/4 cup of sugar, often around 2 Tablespoons for an 8 inch square pan recipe. It’s just barely sweet.
lalalalalal I’m not listening to crazy talk like this!!! lalalalalalalal
</fingers in ears>
Seriously, go to the store and get some Martha White or White Lily Self-Rising Cornmeal mix and follow the recipe there.
And carnivorous plant, don’t be dissin’ cornbread and buttermilk. The trick is to find REAL buttermilk, not that thin pap that passes for buttermilk in the supermarkets these days.
You should see the peppers my Grand father ate with his.
I believe that many typical Southern foods are derived from a subsistence diet during such times as Reconstruction, the dust bowl times and the Great Depression. Poke Salat, okra, fired pork skin, chitterlings (yuck), turnip and mustard greens come to mind. Sugar would have been expensive. I don’t know how yellow vs. white cornmeal works into that theory.
Thanks, carnivorous plant! That looks like a recipe that’s worth checking out, definitely. Though I still need to locate a job to be buying a cast iron skillet. Alas.
I love baking, and I love experimenting, but I have to have a base to start from. And that’s why I asked.
Perhaps I will come to like both cornbreads equally, for different purposes.
Absolutely the best cornbread (non-Southern) recipe I’ve ever used is from Cook’s Illustrated “The Best Recipe”. Perfect, absolutely perfect. The only improvement on it I could come up with was heating the skillet in advance, melting the butter in teh hot skillet and pouring hte batter in that before putting it in the oven. Makes a very nice crust.
for northern style cake cornbread (I admit, I just buy a premade mix…I can cook but baking isnt one of my talents) there are 2 tricks I use, one already mentioned is honey, I drizzle a bit of honey over the top of the batter before it goes into the oven, maybe a couple teaspoons worth, that or
a cup or 2 of frozen berries into the mix, tastes great, kids love it and with the berries the tart goes with the sweet really well. (note if you can find them red huckleberries are perfect for this, sadly I think they are a western Washington only found in the forrest kind of berry)
My standby recipe is always Joy of Cooking’s. It’s the one I’ve always had since I was young, and it’s always either eaten for breakfast for paired with a chili or soup.
I just made one tonight (in my cast iron skillet) to go with the bean soup I had in the slow cooker all day.
I think I would enjoy southern style cornbread (although not with creamed corn, barf), but Joy’s recipe is just so comforting.
Actually, a bit late in the discussion, but getting the right corn meal is important in the right corn taste. You want whole meal, with the germ, and medium find grain. Yellow is food coloring, the absolute article is a yellowish tan. There will probably be occasional flecks of brown, too. Ask someone from the area who has the best around, since the national brands aim for a middle market, and tend to be bland.
I have the Joy of Cooking. Maybe I’ll try that one next. I’m not sure when or how I acquired the cookbook, but I have it now and have for awhile.
Tris, thanks for the suggestion. When I run out of the stuff I have (and I have a lot of it because someone gave me a bag just after I bought a bag many moons ago), I’ll check it out.
Actually, MikeG, I bet you’d have a good regional suggestion for corn meal. You seem to know your food anyway. As for the pan, I appreciate the offer and would love to have it if you don’t use it. Then I’d have a whole two stockpots and a cast iron sauce pan and a cast iron skillet to call my own. Building a kitchen, one pot at a time!
Sadly, I don’t bake. That’s probably why the cast iron doesn’t get used so count yer blessings! Let me know when you want it, I could use an excuse to head down by Chinatown.
Well, then, let’s make it sometime after the 1st, and I will pay you for your skillet with a loaf of pumpkin bread. You can ask just about anyone in one of the Gettysdope threads and they will tell you that you’re definitely getting the better end of the deal! GingerOfTheNorth only allows me to bring it to her parties, because otherwise she and I will eat the whole thing all by ourselves. My boyfriend slavers over the thought of this bread.
GingerOfTheNorth only allows me to bring it to her parties, because otherwise she and I will eat the whole thing all by ourselves. My boyfriend slavers over the thought of this bread.