# Hoecake--do you know what it is without Googling?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 7, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343 "2013-06-07T00:30:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/1 "2013-06-07T00:30:07Z")
I’m old and from Virginia, so I have an advantage.
---
### Author:  [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/2 "2013-06-07T00:39:02Z")
Isn’t is like a thick pancake made with corn meal and cooked in a lot of oil?
---
### Author:  [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/3 "2013-06-07T00:39:12Z")
Sure I do - it’s a cornbread made from cornmeal and water. So named because you could conceivably bake it on the blade of a hoe, during your lunch - excuse me, **samclem** , you’re from Virginia - _dinner_ break, in the fields.
Never actually had any, though.
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/4 "2013-06-07T00:40:34Z")
I had to google it to make sure. Turns out I was right, but I don’t recall where I’ve heard of it before. I grew up in Maryland, right over the border with Virginia, so maybe it’s a childhood memory.
---
### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/5 "2013-06-07T00:43:23Z")
Baked by snakes, of course.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/6 "2013-06-07T00:44:16Z")
I know because I’ve eaten them. Never had heard of them until I lived in Tallahassee, tho.
---
### Author:  [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/7 "2013-06-07T00:49:07Z")
It’s like a cross between a pancake and cornbread, I think.
ETA - yep, looks right to me. Didn’t remember the bit about just using water tho.
---
### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/8 "2013-06-07T00:53:13Z")
Yes.
---
### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/9 "2013-06-07T00:56:41Z")
Madame Pepperwinkle fixes them occasionally, so, yes.
---
### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/10 "2013-06-07T00:59:34Z")
A resounding no, from up north.
---
### Author:  [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/11 "2013-06-07T01:26:14Z")
Yup, tho i’ve never made or eaten them.
---
### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/12 "2013-06-07T01:30:28Z")
It’s what you turn 'round while you [boil that cabbage down.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kj_ZoQZUps)
---
### Author:  [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/13 "2013-06-07T01:31:04Z")
Yes, I knew what it was, and I’m from the frozen (US) northland. I’ve read a lot of books set in the south.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/14 "2013-06-07T01:41:24Z")
Yep, but most of my family is from The South, and I read a lot. I also remember the lyrics to the Smothers Brothers’ “Boil That Cabbage Down.”
---
### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/15 "2013-06-07T01:58:55Z")
Winky Dinky Ho Cake
Hos gotta eat, too!
---
### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/16 "2013-06-07T01:59:27Z")
Yes. My mom, the historical fiction lover, decided to make some for us after reading about them. Not a fan.
---
### Author:  [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/17 "2013-06-07T02:03:03Z")
I knew what it was, but I have never had it. I too am a Virginian.
---
### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/18 "2013-06-07T02:04:17Z")
Yep. Remember reading about them and they were mentioned in what we used to call “Social Studies”
---
### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/19 "2013-06-07T02:10:31Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#):
>
> Winky Dinky Ho Cake
>
> Hos gotta eat, too!
Ninja’d.
To answer the OP: No (I’m Californian).
---
### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343/20 "2013-06-07T02:24:05Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
>
> Ninja’d.
>
> To answer the OP: No (I’m Californian).
Loved that movie! I always thought that about hoecakes, too, even before the film. There’s always work at the Post Office.
Dad made them for us as kids. They were alright.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoecake-do-you-know-what-it-is-without-googling/660343.md?page=2)