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Blogs / On the Table / January 2010 / Cornbread and culture

Cornbread and culture

By George I've got it!

A colleague of mine gets after me for my "half-century old pop cultural references." After pointing out that I myself still feel relevant, even though I'm a half-century old,  I maintain that mine may be the close to the last generation to have any cultural references of their own, because the culture itself is so fractured now. Will there be another Elvis? Ed Sullivan show? Madonna? Or even (where the by George exclamation comes from), My Fair Lady??

Interesting musing, but it has nothing to do with me perfecting my cornbread recipe, which is what "I've got," sure as Eliza Doolittle got her aitches.

I grew up eating coarse yellow corn muffins from cafeteria breadbaskets, wet white—true southern— cornbread made by my Granny's cook, Jessie, jalapeno-studded cornbread everywhere in Texas. But I've never made my ideal cornbread. So I've been making cornbread for weeks, looking for a recipe that doesn't call for cheese, or canned corn, or chilies to keep it from being dust-dry. I also wanted a cornbread that would hold together, and not crumble, that didn't feel gritty, but was still more cornmeal than flour.
Last night, I hit it.

The secret (I think) is to mix the cornmeal (2 cups) with the sour milk (I used 1 cup yogurt, 1 cup milk, stirred together), a couple tablespoons of sugar, 4 tablespoons of butter and a teaspoon of salt, then cook it in a double boiler for 20 minutes, stirring a lot to keep it from lumping. The cooking is what gives the bread its moist, soft  texture.

Set it aside to cool while you beat the hell out of 3 eggs. A spoonful at a time, stir your cornmeal mush into the eggs. Then stir in 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons of soda dissolved in a tablespoon of water.
I had put 4 tablespoons of butter in an iron skillet in a 350-degree oven halfway through the mixing, so the pan was hot and the butter browned. Then I poured in my batter and baked it for half an hour.

Perfect. You can see for yourself.

Now, if only I took good notes and can repeat the results, so this is not a one-night cornbread stand.

But if it is, je ne regrette rien. And that's a cultural reference that's older than I am.