Until I moved to the South , I did n’t really eat much corn bread . now and then , I ’d have some as a side to chili . Or maybe someone would function a corn gem for fallal at dinner . But , it just was n’t a affair in any of the places I have ever lived before .
Then , again , neither were potluck . Now though just about every merging or get - together I attend is a potluck . That means you have to find something to cook that travels well , will feed a large group , and does n’t diminish in quality when eaten at room temperature .
Cornbread: The Perfect Potluck Dish
As such , I now have fresh regard for cornbread . It ’s about the easiest all - around crowd - pleaser you’re able to make and take to a potluck .
Plus , I have bring out an astonishing array of styles , with more secret ingredients than I could have ever imagined . So , I have learned there are plenty of ways to make it so it does n’t come out boring or dry .
In fact , just about everyone I know from the South has a generation - old formula that has been reach down with the utmost care . To be honest , some of those formula use ingredients I would never consider buying myself .
Things like margarine and grocery store shop can thrash corn are often added to the mix .
Still , even those questionable recipes always come out tasting unspoiled and wholesome . In fact , cornbread has a kind of magical power to suggest simpler times and make you find at home .
Why Cornbread?
The fact that I now eat so much cornbread , made so many different ways , got me inquire how cornbread became so ubiquitous in the South .
Where did it come from ? Why does everyone have a different recipe ? Why do n’t the great unwashed ever seem to get stock of consume it ?
Those questions lead me to do some research and find out all the ins and outs of cornbread .
Turns out , there are a band of really good reasons why cornbread has such a long legacy in the Southern States of the U.S. and even further south into many Latin American countries .
Native American Origins
Corn staff of life as we know it today is a bequest of the Native Americans . It ’s been cultivated for over 7000 years . The early evidence of it ’s foresighted chronicle has been found in Mexico .
Early Native Americans finally shared the attainment , seeded player , and knowledge to farm Indian corn with the Europeans who arrived much later . As such , the southerly obsession with cornbread owes its robust chronicle to the aboriginal American citizenry .
Staple of Simplicity
Native Americans relied so heavily on corn repast as a staple of their diet that they found endless ways to devise it keep it interesting . They evolved the process of using slaked calx to loosen the clavus from the husks and make the grain more digestible .
Tortillas , in fact , are about the most basic cornbread you could make . They are unleavened , in other words “ flavorless ” but they are still a form of cornbread .
Once the Native Americans teach the settlers how to rise corn , the next instinctive step was for the settlers to make cornbread too .
Most other edition of cornbread were simple pee - based preparations mean to be wipe out with soups and lather .
Additional Ingredients
All those extra ingredients we now deal coarse , like sugar , lard orbutter , and Milk River , came much afterwards . For example , dairy farm cows came over from Europe . As that stock was bred and distribute , the availability of dairy became unwashed .
Things likebuttermilk , or just plain old sour milk , in position of water germinate the ancient cornbread style into the moister versions we use today .
former iterations of bake soda , called saleratus , also got commix into recipes . Between this and the soured Milk River , cornbread start to be something you not just ate to live , but relish eating .
Anyone Could Make Cornbread
The other attraction to cornbread was how absolute simple it was to make . You did n’t have to knead the lucre infinitely or civilise specific barm .
You did n’t need a baking oven . You could even make cornbread using the flat side of your hoe , as Southern slaves were purported to do . Some say this is why cornmeal - base pancakes are call “ hoe cakes ” .
Please do n’t try that at home , though . Mosthistoriansnow think “ hoe ” was another word for a griddle . So hoecakes were likely made in a pan , just like they are now .
endeavor to do it with a very narrow , and oddly angled , garden implement could show tricky !
In any event , the level is — cornbread was relatively easy to make . Plus Indian corn was prosperous to grow , particularly in red-hot climate . So , that made it a lifelike food staple for less industrialized civilization .
What About the Wheat?
innovative recipe often write out the cornmeal with wheat flour to better the texture . That was dependable in some early recipes too . Cornbread made only with Indian meal , not straw flour , was referred to incolonial timesas “ the sad paste of desperation . ”
Unfortunately , wheat was notoriously hard to develop in the South . The humidity and passion made it as likely to rot on the stem as to be harvestable . ( This would still be true , but for aid of fungicide and fertilizer . )
During the civil war , with no access to wheat , Southerner drop back on pure clavus repast based cornbread for both self - sufficiency and as a dot of superbia .
civic war soldier ration were meager , often uneatable , and basically debate insulting to many soldiers .
So , instead they would make “ cornfed cake ” or cornbread and eggs , often taken from nearby farms . That render the groundwork of their nutrition for the better part of the war .
After that Civil War revitalisation , cornbread remained a staple fibre in the South .
Though , in good multiplication , it is still usually raise with the role of wheat flour , egg , oil , butter , cream , yogurt , buttermilk , and a host of other ingredients to give it enduring appeal in times of food abundance .
The New Resurgence in Cornbread
Our modern life of inordinate access to wheat has drive quite a large percentage of citizenry to become gluten - sensitive . In a surprising diachronic plait , a food long associated with impoverishment and rigourousness , is now making a come back among people with the financial resources to be exceedingly conscientious about what they eat .
Since corn whiskey is the most abundant , of course gluten - free nutrient on the planet , it makes gumption for mass to think it as a wheat option . Keep in creative thinker though , even though corn whisky itself is gluten - free , it is often handled in localization where wheat is also present .
Therefore , unless your corn is specifically labeled “ gluten - free ” there is a small hazard that it has been cross - foul with gluten from other mathematical product . Some Indian meal merchandise also contain additives like wheat flour to improve their grain .
Additionally , if you are interested about GMOs in your dieting , corncross - pollinationis almost impossible to prevent without about a mile of separation between a GMO and non - GMO field . That means even non - GMO seeds and fields may contain some GMO genetical history .
look for Indian meal products labeled non - GMO is n’t a warrant that those packages do n’t contain GMO pollinated seeds . However , it is an ethical promise that the manufacturer has assume extra dance step to limit GMO cross - contaminant .
Historical Cornbread Recipes
If you really require to work your appreciation and diachronic understanding of the grandness of cornbread , try using the historically - base recipe below .
If you require to have an unquestionable experience , then try doing it with Indian corn youmillor evenraise yourself ! Oh , and make trusted to serve these up with something saucy or brothy . Stew , chili , soup , or a classic pot of dome are sodding pick !
1. Native American Cornbread
ThisIroquois cornbread “ recipe”is more an explanation of a technique . As you could imagine , Native Americans did n’t have cupboards full of cookware like we innovative home Captain James Cook do .
They did n’t need a assess cup to assure them how much water and Indian meal to bestow . They just make prepare guesses as to quantity .
in person , I use very few formula . So , I have a go at it this simple-minded account . Also , it ’s different from our innovative versions that ask boiling the cornbread .
Alternatively , you’re able to electrocute it using sunflower rock oil as the fat source for a more veritable flavor visibility .
2. Civil War Style Cornbread
ThisCivil War manner cornbread recipegives you the formula as it would have been made at the metre using element like sodium hydrogen carbonate ( pre - cursor to bake soda water ) . But , it also offers you an updated ingredient listing using things you could find out at your market entrepot now .
You ’ll most definitely want to eat this with a pot of beans . I find it particularly tasty with smuggled - eyed pea , which are another Southern favorite . Black - eyed pea plant also grow super well in red-hot , humid , southerly climates .
3. Cornbread 1935-style
This“old - fashioned ” recipe(which is in reality quite modern on a 7000 twelvemonth meter scale ) came from a family formula box and date back to 1935 . It include the use of shortening , which has fallen out of favor of belated . But , it ’s fun to try for the historical position .
When you do , you ’ll see why shortening was such an modern tool in the kitchen at the metre . Using it really improves the grain over earlier formula iterations .
4. Gluten-Free Corn Bread
Thisrecipe is gluten - freeand dairy - free . Though it does admit eggs and sugar , it has some of those classic mod touches that make it more palatable to us newly convertedcorn breadlovers .
The small gem sizing also makes it more attractive for those concerned with portion control . Me , though , I am all about the cast - branding iron goat god sized edible corn bread , which is why our last recipe is the Southern Classic !
5. Southern-style Cast Iron Cornbread
I have learned the key tocast - ironcooked cornbread is to heat up the genus Pan first and coat it with lots of butter or baconlard . If you happen to havecracklins , check that to add together them to your batter too !
This formula is about as introductory asSouthern style cornbreadgets . So , you could add whatever other ingredients you want . dry out nuts , baked bean , lump of homestead cheese . weigh the batsman a nucleotide for all the other good hooey you produce on your homestead .
Cornbread From Ancient Origins To Modern Homesteading Benefits
I have to tell you , even though I have come up to enjoy eating cornbread , it did n’t make my favorite list until I commence digging into its history .
Now , that I realise how it came to be not only a Southernstaple , but a advanced day antidote to over - process foods , I do it it even more .
This uncomplicated transportation has survived the mental testing of time , cross culture , and advance from being a poor person ’s survival mechanism to being a rich individual ’s wellness food . Thanks to the convenience of being capable to buy bagged cornmeal , it ’s even easier to make today than it was historically .
Honestly though , I love it for the same understanding the early Native and European Americans did . I can well raiseheirloom cornon my homestead .
I can also dry out it and convert it to meal using simple puppet , plus patience and time . It ’s high in calories , nutrition , and belly - filling . For me , cornbread is not only great for potlucks , it ’s stark for homesteader too !
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