I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
a farm market. All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
grow.

Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
get more Southern!

One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.

Sounds really yummy to me!

I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
better. ;-)

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
>I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
> places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
> a farm market. All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
> grow.
>
> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
> get more Southern!
>
> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
> is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
> just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> Sounds really yummy to me!
>
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)
>
> Kate
> --
> Kate Connally
> “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
> Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
> Until you bite their heads off.”
> What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
>

two types, a sweeter version containing either white sugar, brown sugar or
molasses, often baked in muffin tins and called cornmeal muffins....if put
in the cast iron, cornbread. There is another recipe that calls for no
sugar, this is a more savory type, sometimes rendered pork fat leavings
added in, and called cracklin' bread. Cornbread recipes are as divergent
and diverse as the Clans who make them........you may make it one way and
Ina Mae down the road a piece will make it different. The only given from
recipe to recipe is the fact that cornmeal is in it....the rest is up for
grabs.
-ginny
(of the Highland NC MacDonald Clan - but born and bred in Rockingham, NC)

On 6/14/2010 1:53 PM, Kate Connally wrote:
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)
>
> Kate

Well, I like it savory and my husband likes it sweet, so he wins and I
make it sweet. lol I like it both ways, I really do.

Becca

On 6/14/2010 4:18 PM, Randy Johnson wrote:
> On 14-Jun-2010, Kate > wrote:
>
>> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
>> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
>> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
>> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
>> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
>> get more Southern!
>>
>> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
>> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
>> is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
>> just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> SC and WV may appear to be in the south; but, they are not real southerners
> - just posers.
>


I like both kinds. When I lived up North, we never had corn bread...
just corn muffins and they were sweet and eaten like cupcakes, never
eaten with a meal except maybe breakfast.

Here in the South, the cornbread is more savory and eaten with a meal
instead of bread or rolls. It is usually served with butter.

When I get the itch for sweet corn bread, I'll take some of the Southern
style and crumble it into a bowl with some butter and maple syrup and
nuke it until the butter melts.

George L

On Jun 14, 2:31*pm, Ran e at Arabian Knits >
wrote:
>
>
> I have had "real" southern cornbread and I thought it was gritty,
> crumbly and dry. *I didn't care for it.
>
>
If your sampling of southern cornbread was gritty, crumbly, and dry
then the maker does not know how to make cornbread. It was overcooked
and not enough fat in it when it was put in the oven. That being said
I do put a tablespoon of sugar in my cornmeal batter.

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:30:25 -0700 (PDT), itsjoannotjoann
> wrote:

> On Jun 14, 2:31*pm, Ran e at Arabian Knits >
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I have had "real" southern cornbread and I thought it was gritty,
> > crumbly and dry. *I didn't care for it.
> >
> >
> If your sampling of southern cornbread was gritty, crumbly, and dry
> then the maker does not know how to make cornbread. It was overcooked
> and not enough fat in it when it was put in the oven. That being said
> I do put a tablespoon of sugar in my cornmeal batter.

That the dry, crumbly and gritty cornbread experience was mine too.
After I found a recipe that wasn't straight cornmeal, the texture
improved vastly. I also like the addition of a little sugar, but I
don't want a lot of it. I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and
if I want it sweet, I'll eat it with honey.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Jun 14, 11:53*am, Kate Connally > wrote:
> I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
> places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
> a farm market. *All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
> grow.
>
> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. *Southerners don't eat
> it sweet. *Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. *You can't
> get more Southern!
>
> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
> is baked. *All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
> just like home. *So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> Sounds really yummy to me!
>
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. *;-)
>
> Kate

I'm from the South...born and raised. We ate cornbread without sugar
because my father liked it that way. I like cornbread either way. I
don't like it too sweet, however, just enough sugar to enhance the
flavor.

People in the South do all sorts of things to cornbread batter, fry
it, bake it, put things in it and fry it and call it hush puppies or
fritters. etc.

There is no hard and fast rule about cornbread, never has been.

Speaking of Southern food?

Watch this one and get back to me!

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State

You know how you're in a fine dining establishment when you're in The
South? The waitress asks you "And how would you like that FRIED?"

:-(

John Kuthe...

On 6/14/2010 6:20 PM, ImStillMags wrote:

> People in the South do all sorts of things to cornbread batter, fry
> it, bake it, put things in it and fry it and call it hush puppies or
> fritters. etc.


Since I am gluten intolerant, the Boss sometimes makes me "Hoe Cakes" or
"Johnny Cakes" which are kind of like pancakes made with cornmeal
instead of flour.

Really good!

George L

In article >,
Kate Connally > wrote:


> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)
>
> Kate

Yet another data point for corn bread...

My grandmother, who was born into the Park clan of Monroe County, KY,
which is on the TN border where the Cumberland River flows south through
the "Barrens". Her cornbread was made in a skillet with yellow corn
meal, mixed with lard originally and then Crisco, and was lightly
sweetened with sugar.

D.M.

Kate Connally wrote:
>
> I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
> places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
> a farm market. All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
> grow.
>
> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
> get more Southern!
>
> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
> is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
> just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> Sounds really yummy to me!
>
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)

I think it's all relative - The Southern benchmark for sweet is sweet
tea, so therefore Southern cornbread isn't sweet.

"George Leppla" > wrote in message
...
> On 6/14/2010 6:20 PM, ImStillMags wrote:
>
>> People in the South do all sorts of things to cornbread batter, fry
>> it, bake it, put things in it and fry it and call it hush puppies or
>> fritters. etc.
>
>
> Since I am gluten intolerant, the Boss sometimes makes me "Hoe Cakes" or
> "Johnny Cakes" which are kind of like pancakes made with cornmeal instead
> of flour.
>
> Really good!
>
> George L

Now where I come from, a white flour dough was made and cooked in the cast
iron like the cornbread and THIS was called 'hoe cake'
-ginny

"John Kuthe" > wrote in message
...
> Speaking of Southern food?
>
> Watch this one and get back to me!
>
> http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State
>
> You know how you're in a fine dining establishment when you're in The
> South? The waitress asks you "And how would you like that FRIED?"
>
> :-(
>
> John Kuthe...

Nah, it's when the gum-poppin', beehive wearin' waitress comes over with the
Swee-Tea (tea syrup, so thick a spoon will stand in the sugar on the bottom)
and goes 'Ya wanna 'nother swaller, hon?'
-g

Kate Connally wrote:
>
> I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
> places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
> a farm market. All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
> grow.
>
> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
> get more Southern!
>
> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
> is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
> just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> Sounds really yummy to me!
>
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)


Without having read anyone else's reponse regarding this thread, all I
can say is what a person (particularly the cook!!! <G>) likes is what
matters most, eh! Seems some folks like cornbread with a bit of sugar
and others do not. I'd guess neither is incorrect ;> Corn bread tends
to be an infrequent item at my dinner table, so I'm far from expert :P

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice!!

Virginia Tadrzynski wrote:

> Nah, it's when the gum-poppin', beehive wearin' waitress comes over with the
> Swee-Tea (tea syrup, so thick a spoon will stand in the sugar on the bottom)
> and goes 'Ya wanna 'nother swaller, hon?'
> -g

Au contraire! Properly made sweetea has no discernible sugar granules as
the sugar is added to the hot steeped tea so as to melt in to that much
loved syrupy sweet cold drink.

sf wrote:

> I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and if I want it sweet, I'll eat
> it with honey.

To me, unsweetened cornbread seems to go better with Tex-Mex or Mexican food
than it does with most Southern food. With a typical Southern meal, I don't
think it makes a big difference whether the cornbread is sweetened or not
(unless it's been sweetened beyond all reason, of course).

I bet Paula Deen sweetens *her* cornbread -- or even uses those Jiffy mixes.

Bob

"Goomba" > wrote in message
...
> Virginia Tadrzynski wrote:
>
>> Nah, it's when the gum-poppin', beehive wearin' waitress comes over with
>> the Swee-Tea (tea syrup, so thick a spoon will stand in the sugar on the
>> bottom) and goes 'Ya wanna 'nother swaller, hon?'
>> -g
>
> Au contraire! Properly made sweetea has no discernible sugar granules as
> the sugar is added to the hot steeped tea so as to melt in to that much
> loved syrupy sweet cold drink.


Nevah meant to imply there were granules, but merely the tea was so thick
with sugar to render it a syrup, the sugar content is what held up the
spoon.
-g (grinning knowing that a glass of 'sweet tea' would set off my BG
numbers)

Goomba wrote:
>
> Au contraire! Properly made sweetea has no discernible sugar granules as
> the sugar is added to the hot steeped tea so as to melt in to that much
> loved syrupy sweet cold drink.

That's the only way to make sweatea, isn't it?!!

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice!!

"sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> That the dry, crumbly and gritty cornbread experience was mine too.> After
> I found a recipe that wasn't straight cornmeal, the texture> improved
> vastly. I also like the addition of a little sugar, but I
> don't want a lot of it. I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and> if
> I want it sweet, I'll eat it with honey.

I use 100% cornmeal (polenta, actually) and don't get gritty. I don't know
how that happens unless it is too little fluid and fat? I use 1 spoonful of
sugar to increase browning. If I leave it out it doesn't taste much
different, but it is less attractive.

"Pete C." > ha scritto nel messaggio

> I think it's all relative - The Southern benchmark for sweet is sweet
> tea, so therefore Southern cornbread isn't sweet.

Anyone who drinks that and then comes whining about HFCS is nuts.

On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:10:44 +0200, "Giusi" >
wrote:

>
> "sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> > That the dry, crumbly and gritty cornbread experience was mine too.> After
> > I found a recipe that wasn't straight cornmeal, the texture> improved
> > vastly. I also like the addition of a little sugar, but I
> > don't want a lot of it. I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and> if
> > I want it sweet, I'll eat it with honey.
>
> I use 100% cornmeal (polenta, actually) and don't get gritty. I don't know
> how that happens unless it is too little fluid and fat? I use 1 spoonful of
> sugar to increase browning. If I leave it out it doesn't taste much
> different, but it is less attractive.
>
I think the recipe I followed was on the box of cornmeal, so if it
wasn't right you'd have to take if up with them. I just know I
switched to adding flour and haven't looked back.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Sky wrote:
> Goomba wrote:
>> Au contraire! Properly made sweetea has no discernible sugar granules as
>> the sugar is added to the hot steeped tea so as to melt in to that much
>> loved syrupy sweet cold drink.
>
> That's the only way to make sweatea, isn't it?!!
>
> Sky
>
LOL, well, yeah.
Everytime I go to NYC or someplace up thataways, the restaurants only
serve unsweetened tea. In fact, some only serve iced tea in the summer,
can you believe that!? There is a common misconception that one can add
sugar to cold iced tea and turn it in to "sweetea" but you can not. It
just isn't nor will it ever be "sweetea". <sigh>

"Goomba" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Sky wrote:
>> Goomba wrote:
>>> Au contraire! Properly made sweetea has no discernible sugar granules as
>>> the sugar is added to the hot steeped tea so as to melt in to that much
>>> loved syrupy sweet cold drink.
>>
>> That's the only way to make sweatea, isn't it?!!
>>
>> Sky
>>
> LOL, well, yeah.
> Everytime I go to NYC or someplace up thataways, the restaurants only
> serve unsweetened tea. In fact, some only serve iced tea in the summer,
> can you believe that!? There is a common misconception that one can add
> sugar to cold iced tea and turn it in to "sweetea" but you can not. It
> just isn't nor will it ever be "sweetea". <sigh>

And a very good thing that is.

On Jun 14, 10:52*pm, "Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:
> "John Kuthe" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Speaking of Southern food?
>
> > Watch this one and get back to me!
>
> >http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State
>
> > You know how you're in a fine dining establishment when you're in The
> > South? The waitress asks you "And how would you like that FRIED?"
>
> > :-(
>
> > John Kuthe...
>
> Nah, it's when the gum-poppin', beehive wearin' waitress comes over with the
> Swee-Tea (tea syrup, so thick a spoon will stand in the sugar on the bottom)
> and goes 'Ya wanna 'nother swaller, hon?'
> -g

I saw 'em making that syrupy crap they call Sweetee once! They put
about 1/4 full of SUGAR in a pitcher to make the tea in! GROSS!

I hate sweetee!! :-(

John Kuthe...

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
> On Mon 14 Jun 2010 06:36:41p, Pete C. told us...
>
> >
> > Kate Connally wrote:
> >>
> >> I was watching a recent episode of DDD and one of the featured
> >> places was The Farmer's Shed Kitchen - a restaurant attached to
> >> a farm market. All the stuff they make is made from stuff they
> >> grow.
> >>
> >> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> >> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> >> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
> >> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> >> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
> >> get more Southern!
> >>
> >> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> >> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before
> >> it is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how
> >> it was just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
> >>
> >> Sounds really yummy to me!
> >>
> >> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> >> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> >> better.
> >> ;-)
> >
> > I think it's all relative - The Southern benchmark for sweet is
> > sweet tea, so therefore Southern cornbread isn't sweet.
> >
>
> And to generalize, most northerners don't know how to make either one
> properly.

Most northerners didn't even know what the heck sweet tea was until ~5
or 6 years ago, and the same applied to southerners not having a clue
what iced coffee was.

Giusi wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > ha scritto nel messaggio
>
> > I think it's all relative - The Southern benchmark for sweet is sweet
> > tea, so therefore Southern cornbread isn't sweet.
>
> Anyone who drinks that and then comes whining about HFCS is nuts.

Not really, it's a sucrose vs. fructose thing, and also a natural vs.
engineered thing.

On Jun 15, 6:21*am, Andy > wrote:
> John Kuthe > wrote:
> > On Jun 14, 10:52*pm, "Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:
> >> "John Kuthe" > wrote in message
>
>
> >> ...
>
> >> > Speaking of Southern food?
>
> >> > Watch this one and get back to me!
>
> >> >http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State
>
> >> > You know how you're in a fine dining establishment when you're in
> >> > The South? The waitress asks you "And how would you like that
> >> > FRIED?"
>
> >> > :-(
>
> >> > John Kuthe...
>
> >> Nah, it's when the gum-poppin', beehive wearin' waitress comes over
> >> with
> > the
> >> Swee-Tea (tea syrup, so thick a spoon will stand in the sugar on the
> >> bott
> > om)
> >> and goes 'Ya wanna 'nother swaller, hon?'
> >> -g
>
> > I saw 'em making that syrupy crap they call Sweetee once! They put
> > about 1/4 full of SUGAR in a pitcher to make the tea in! GROSS!
>
> > I hate sweetee!! :-(
>
> > John Kuthe...
>
> I like tea with lemon. Hot or ice tea.
>
> Sweet tea doesn't sound very thirst quenching to me.

Sweetee is not thirst quenching, it's candy and makes you thirstier.

Water is thirst quenching. Pure unadulterated water. Nothing better.

John Kuthe...

Giusi replied to sf:

>> That the dry, crumbly and gritty cornbread experience was mine too.>
>> After I found a recipe that wasn't straight cornmeal, the texture>
>> improved vastly. I also like the addition of a little sugar, but I
>> don't want a lot of it. I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and>
>> if I want it sweet, I'll eat it with honey.
>
> I use 100% cornmeal (polenta, actually) and don't get gritty. I don't
> know how that happens unless it is too little fluid and fat? I use 1
> spoonful of sugar to increase browning. If I leave it out it doesn't
> taste much different, but it is less attractive.

I think the problem was probably the cooking method. If you let cornmeal
soak in the liquid for half an hour or so before adding whatever leavening
you're going to use, the grittiness will be gone.

Bob

John Kuthe wrote:

> Sweetee is not thirst quenching, it's candy and makes you thirstier.
>
> Water is thirst quenching. Pure unadulterated water. Nothing better.
>
> John Kuthe...
>
<yawn> So drink the sweetea just for the flavor and caffeine. Not
everything one eats and drinks has to be strictly just for function.

"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
(snippage)
> Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that all my adult life I've
> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar. Southerners don't eat
> it sweet. Well, the Farmer's Shed is in Lexington, SC a little
> west of Columbia and not all too far from Georgia. You can't
> get more Southern!
>
Actually, you can get a lot further south but then you'd be dipping your
toes in the ocean

> One of the things they are famous for is their cornbread - which
> contains sugar and even has brown sugar sprinkled on top before it
> is baked. All the locals eating there were raving about how it was
> just like home. So how do you explain that, pray tell.
>
> Sounds really yummy to me!
>
> I like my cornbread sweet, but I always thought it was because
> I was half Northern and raised in the North and didn't know no
> better. ;-)
>
> Kate
> --
I don't try to explain it. I've always added just a *little* sugar to my
cornbread batter. When I post that here I was yelled at because it's not
SOUTHERN. Oh well!

I ate cornbread in Boston and it was not only exceedingly sweet but also
cake-like. Cornbread shouldn't be fluffy. Then (of course) there is the
entire white vs. yellow cornmeal debate. LOL

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

> I ate cornbread in Boston and it was not only exceedingly sweet but also
> cake-like. Cornbread shouldn't be fluffy. Then (of course) there is
> the entire white vs. yellow cornmeal debate. LOL
>
> Jill

I like the kind of cornbread that has jalapenos, cheese and corn kernels
added to the batter. It makes a good base for a bowl of chili.

"Sky" wrote
> Kate Connally wrote:

>> heard the song and dance about how true southern cornbread (and
>> hushpuppies, etc.) does not contain sugar.

> Without having read anyone else's reponse regarding this thread, all I
> can say is what a person (particularly the cook!!! <G>) likes is what
> matters most, eh! Seems some folks like cornbread with a bit of sugar
> and others do not. I'd guess neither is incorrect ;> Corn bread tends
> to be an infrequent item at my dinner table, so I'm far from expert :P

Not to worry Sky. The confusion is because there are several 'types' of
'cornbread'. Sometimes the terms can be confusing because what they are
called in one area, may be a different item in another area. I'm pretty
much mountain areas from VA to SC. A person from Mississippi would possibly
have a very different answer.

Here's what I grew up with for names:

Cornbread- this is made with bacon grease and often with 'crackin's' from
fried pork skin. This is not done with sugar to enough amount to taste it,
but a little is added to smooth the flavor. Frequently uses 1 TB sugar, 2
TS salt, and a variable amount of baking powder. Then fat, milk (or water
sometimes) and about 4 cups of corn meal. May use up to 1/2 cup bacon fat
(1/2 of that is stirred in, the rest in the bottom of the cast iron skillet
and you add the batter on top and bake the whole thing). I'd say 1/4 cup
bacon fat is more common (split in 1/2 as above). There a good chance the
ones saying cornbread isn't sweet, are more used to a product like this.
Often served hot and in a bowl with milk poured over it.

Johnnycakes or Cornpone- these two can actually swap names about and only
cornpone expressly has to be made with cornmeal. Where I came from, I could
easily see this being confused with 'sweet cornbread' for that's what it is
in my relation. Often served with syrup and a fair amount of sweetner in
the baking process as well. The cheater method of the south is to use
'Jiffy Mix' 'corn muffins'. Go to other areas of the south and you'll see
something closer to the cornbread above but with a bit more sugar (or
molasis) and served with a sweet glaze. Often also cooked in a 'cornpone
cast iron pan' where you have little corn shaped depressions. Flipped out
of the pan the one side will look like little corn cobs and you'd drizzle
sweentner on them and serve.

'Corn Cake'- a rare term when used this way as far as I know away from the
mountains (SC to VA) but you can hear it even here in Norfolk with the older
generation. This is definately by definition a 'sweet cornbread'. It may
or may not be glazed and it may incorporate a portion of white or cake
flour. A very old bread from when white flour was expensive and cornmeal
was the standard. Fine ground Cornmeal would be used to stretch the
precious white flour to make something much more 'cake like'. Black Strap
Molasis and/or Sourghum (sp?) would be threaded through it and then drizzled
on top almost like icing (though thinner).

So you see Sky, no one here is really 'right or wrong'. What Kate saw,
would to me be either a corn cake made with sugar, or possibly a johnnycake.
The lack of a corncob shape would have me probably not call it cornpone but
of course, I wouldn't get upset if another did. So yes, southerners do
indeed make 'breads' of cornmeal that are sweet. We just generally have
another name for the sweet ones!

On Jun 15, 8:36*am, Goomba > wrote:
> John Kuthe wrote:
> > Sweetee is not thirst quenching, it's candy and makes you thirstier.
>
> > Water is thirst quenching. Pure unadulterated water. Nothing better.
>
> > John Kuthe...
>
> <yawn> So drink the sweetea just for the flavor and caffeine. Not
> everything one eats and drinks has to be strictly just for function.

Perhaps you'll let me drink unsweetened tea for the flavor and
caffeine? I don't like sweetened tea--hot or cold.

(Iced green tea is very refreshing, but not at all Southern.)

Mostly I drink iced tap water, anyway.

Cindy Hamilton

In article >,
Goomba > wrote:

> I like the kind of cornbread that has jalapenos, cheese and corn kernels
> added to the batter. It makes a good base for a bowl of chili.

Edumacate me, Goomba. You put the cornbread (crumbled?) into your chili
bowl and then pour chili on top of it?
--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
Updated 4-24-2010 with food story and pictures

"Bob Terwilliger" wrote

> To me, unsweetened cornbread seems to go better with Tex-Mex or Mexican
> food than it does with most Southern food.

Works and we are used to it. Then again, have you ever had cracklin'
cornbread?

Here's how it works:

Traditional: Heat skillet (cast iron) and add chopped up pig skin with fat
layer. Put your wire or whatever cover to prevent splatters. Let that
render down for about 20 mins or so until they are crisp. Scoup crackings
out of pan to a drying area (cloth towels in the old days but paper today).
You want about 1/4 cup. Pour off the fat then return about 1/4 cup to the
pan. In a bowl, mix your cracklins, salt, 1/4 cup fat, baking powder, 1 TB
or so of sweetner (white or brown sugar, sourghum, molasis etc), and roughly
4 cups of corn meal then enough water to make a fairly thick batter. Pour
back into pan then bake until done.

More recent and health concious: Heat skillet and fry up a little bacon or
sausage (pork skin still allowed but less likely to be handy). Pour off all
but 2 TB or so of fat from pan and reserve bacon/sausage/cracklins. In a
bowl, mix 2-3TB fat, then the salt, baking powder, 1 TB sugar (or other
sweetner), cracklins or whatever meat you used, 4 cups corn meal, and again
enough water to make a fairly thick batter. Pour in pan and bake.

Very similar recipe, just reduced the fat a bit which can lead to sticking
problems.

> I bet Paula Deen sweetens *her* cornbread -- or even uses those Jiffy
> mixes.

I'm not a big Paula Deen fan though she's got a few interesting recipes that
are 'gen-u-whine'.

"Giusi" wrote

> I use 100% cornmeal (polenta, actually) and don't get gritty. I don't
> know how that happens unless it is too little fluid and fat? I use 1
> spoonful of sugar to increase browning. If I leave it out it doesn't
> taste much different, but it is less attractive.

Actually polenta is related but not the same grind exactly. Here, cornmeal
comes in many forms, some quite course and meant to be so for the texture.
The cornbread I repeated in general (also called Skillet Bread if wondering)
normally uses a course stone grind. Eggs are sometimes added to make it
less crumbly but it's _supposed_ to be a bit crumbly.

Your polenta is probably closer to what we call 'corn flour' which is a fine
grind. Corn-cake is made with that.

"jmcquown" wrote

> I don't try to explain it. I've always added just a *little* sugar to my
> cornbread batter. When I post that here I was yelled at because it's not
> SOUTHERN. Oh well!

Grin, they were wrong. Pure and simple. A 'little' is normal.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> Goomba > wrote:
>
>> I like the kind of cornbread that has jalapenos, cheese and corn kernels
>> added to the batter. It makes a good base for a bowl of chili.
>
> Edumacate me, Goomba. You put the cornbread (crumbled?) into your chili
> bowl and then pour chili on top of it?

Yeah, except usually I put a large cut square of cornbread (plain or
jalapeno/cheese) in the bowl and ladle the chili on top. When I have
made a particularly hot and spicy batch of chili, the cornbread helps
temper it a bit.

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote
> Goomba wrote:

>> I like the kind of cornbread that has jalapenos, cheese and corn kernels
>> added to the batter. It makes a good base for a bowl of chili.

> Edumacate me, Goomba. You put the cornbread (crumbled?) into your chili
> bowl and then pour chili on top of it?

It's a sort of Tex-Mex treatment. May also be made with creamed corn (often
canned now). That one isn't served in a bowl with milk, but with chili on
top just as you see.

"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
>
> "sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio
>> That the dry, crumbly and gritty cornbread experience was mine too.>
>> After I found a recipe that wasn't straight cornmeal, the texture>
>> improved vastly. I also like the addition of a little sugar, but I
>> don't want a lot of it. I prefer more savory cornbread with chili and>
>> if I want it sweet, I'll eat it with honey.
>
> I use 100% cornmeal (polenta, actually) and don't get gritty. I don't
> know how that happens unless it is too little fluid and fat?

Exactly.