Got a Hankerin' for Some Cornbread? Quiz

Answer: maize

While the English speakers in North America, Australia, and New Zealand may refer to the plant simply as "corn," most everyone else in the world might be confused by such a word, since "corn" usually is a generic term for any grain whatsoever. Anyway, maize or corn is a tall plant, often growing several feet high, and has been domesticated since prehistoric times when the indigenous people of Mesoamerica (parts of Mexico and Central America) did so. Europeans travelling to the New World were smitten with maize, and many settlers of the New World began to grow it as a staple crop. Today, maize is the most widely grown domesticated grain throughout all of the Americas.

The term "maize" is a derivative of the Taino word "maiz." The Taino people lived in the Caribbean, particularly in the Bahamas and the Antilles. To make cornmeal, the grain of the maize or corn plant is dried and then ground either into a fine, a medium, or a coarse consistency.

However, never are the grains ground as finely as those used to make wheat flour.

In some places of the world, such as in the United Kingdom, cornmeal is referred to as polenta.

Answer: a bread leavened with an agent other than yeast

A quick bread is a bread that relies on a chemical agent instead of yeast for the leavening process. Breads that rely on yeast for leavening take a very long time to rise, often hours, and they rise unevenly. However, quick breads rise much faster and more evenly due to the release of carbon dioxide from a chemical reaction that relies on the mixture of an acid (such as lemon juice, cream of tartar, or buttermilk) and a base (such as baking soda or baking powder). Cornbread is usually made with baking powder, but other leavening agents may be used as well and often are.

Answer: Southern cornbread tends to be more savory or saltier

Southern cornbread is often more savory than the cornbread baked elsewhere in the United States, usually because Southerners will often use buttermilk as an ingredient while some even bake their cornbread with cracklings (pork rinds). Furthermore, many Southern cooks will bake their cornbread in a cast iron skillet seasoned with bacon drippings or lard.

At any rate, Southern cooks often use less sugar, and whatever sweetness there is, is countered by the saltiness of the other ingredients. Cornbread is also more of a traditional staple in the South, where poorer families once found they could afford cornmeal more than they could wheat flour for baking bread. Older generations of Southerners are fond of eating cornbread by crumbling it in a glass of milk or buttermilk and spooning it out, the way one might eat a bowl of cereal. Southerners in the past also often ate what they referred to as "soup beans," which was a mixture of pinto beans and cornbread, another very cheap meal.

Answer: Dixie cake

"Skillet cake" is an obvious term. However, the origin of the term "Johnnycake" is not so clear. Some argue that slaves in the South are to be credited with this name, which is a misunderstanding of the word "jannock," a term used in the past in the northern British isles to mean "genuine." Some argue that it is a derivation of "Shawnee cake" or even "journey cake." "Hoecake" is a more Southern-used term that came about because of the kind of iron pan, known as a "hoe," used to fry the cornbread.

The name "hoecake" did not come about because the cornbread was fried on the blade of a hoe, as some mistakenly have claimed. Typically, Johnnycake or hoecake or skillet cake is made without leavening, and sometimes some cooks will add eggs and something sweet to create something akin to a pancake, which they also will serve with maple syrup or honey.

Answer: corn pone

Corn pone became popular among frontiersmen, cowboys, and travelers in earlier days because it was easy and cheap to make. Obviously, corn pone is a drier, crunchier, often even grittier form of cornbread. I should also note here that the term "corn pone" has evolved to refer to any cornbread baked in an iron skillet or pan, even cornbreads with milk, eggs, sugar, or any combination of these added.

As a matter of fact, many terms used for specific kinds of cornbread have evolved into being interchangeable as people have lost an understanding of the original uses of these terms.

For example, one might find the same big pan of baked cornbread referred to as "corn pone," "cornbread," "Johnnycake," or "hoecake," depending on the person being asked to name it.

However, in this quiz, I am trying to rely on the original meanings of the terms.

Answer: hushpuppy

Hushpuppy recipes are unique from region to region of the United States, in that some people will put chopped onions in their batter mix while others will include various other ingredients, such as jalapeno peppers, dill, creamed corn, or beer. They are usually served with other deep fried foods, such as fried fish, and are often fried in the same grease with whatever foods with which they are being served.

The frying technique allows the inside of the ball of batter to remain light and moist while the outside becomes a crunchy golden brown.

Answer: black-eyed peas

Catfish, filleted or not, and sliced okra and green tomatoes are often deep fried or pan fried after they are dipped in a cornmeal batter. This batter includes cornmeal, of course, but also may include various amounts of any of the following: wheat flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, milk, and eggs (which often help the cornmeal stick to the foods that are being fried).

Answer: cornbread stuffing

Cornbread stuffing or cornbread dressing is a traditional item served with holiday dinners, such as those served at Thanksgiving or Christmas. While stuffing was originally used for filling the cavities of the bodies of animals roasted for a meal, such as turkeys, stuffing or dressing is now often cooked and eaten as a separate item set aside on the plate next to the turkey or ham or whatever meat one may be eating.

Some stuffings or dressings, including those made with cornbread, are sometimes even made with pieces of meat in the them. Sometimes they are served topped with something referred to as giblet gravy, which is a gravy made with pieces of a fowl, such as the liver, gizzard, heart, and neck.

Answer: cornmeal pie

Some cooks add wheat flour and/or nuts (particularly pecans) to create a variety of textures, but these ingredients are not necessary. Furthermore, some cooks add brown sugar, and some choose to leave out the corn syrup. Usually the mixture outlined in the question is poured into a pie shell and baked in an oven at 350 to 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the recipe one is following.

The result is a delicious pie similar to a custard or a chess pie.

Answer: Tomahawk

Frank Ford, a nutritionist, founded Arrowhead Mills in 1960; it is known for its organic grains, cereals, and baking mixes. Indian Head cornmeal is owned by Wilkins-Rogers Mills, which was founded in 1913; the company installed its first corn mill during the 1930's and shortly began selling cornmeal under the brand name Indian Head. Jiffy is owned by Chelsea Milling Company, which has existed before 1900, and the family that owns it has been in the milling business since the early 1800's.

The first Jiffy prepared baking mix was marketed in 1930. Chelsea is known for being a complete manufacturer, meaning the total product one buys from this company is made by the company; it stores its own wheat and mills its own wheat and even makes the little blue boxes in which all of the company's mixes are sold.