What is a Hoecake?
Hoecakes have served as a staple food for many years and have been given a multitude of names. Originally they were made from ground Indian corn and cooked on hot stones over a campfire. The name some Native Americans gave them was “jonican” and many regions now call them Johnny Cakes. Another name they have been given is “corn pone” referring to the ground cornmeal they are made from, or, when cooked over an open campfire where there were ashes, “Ash cakes.” However, here in the South, the thin flat bread cakes were originally cooked on the face of a planting hoe held over an open flame. The hoes used by field hands had a wider face and were a perfect surface for cooking these flat bread cakes. Consequently, the name, “Hoecakes” was born!
Through the years we have thankfully abandoned cooking with a garden hoe. These amazing cakes can be made in a hot cast iron skillet or on a griddle. Sometimes on a griddle, the edges will cook with a bit of a lacy effect, and some people call them “Lacy Cakes.”
No matter what you call them, Hoecakes were a wonderful, easy treat at MeMa and PaPa's House.
Ingredients:
2 cups Arnett's fine ground white corn meal
Very hot water
Bacon grease
Shallow cast iron skillet, about 1 inch deep, griddle or (A cast iron HOECAKE pan) - If you can find one or are lucky enough to have inherited one from your Grandmother.
Directions:
Heat cast iron 'spyder' or skillet with about 3 tablespoons bacon fat on stovetop until water pops and dances when dropped onto it. Mix cornmeal with hot water until consistency is thin. Pour batter into skillet. Cook on high setting on stovetop until initial sizzling stops, and then reduce heat to medium. Cook approximately 8 to 10 minutes until the bread appears dry around the edges. Loosen by shaking the skillet or using a spatula. Slide bread onto a pot lid and flip it over into the skillet to cook the other side. Cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes more. Bread should be crisp on both sides with a softer center. Cut into pie shaped wedges and serve hot with butter. PaPa ate cornbread with buttermilk, sweet milk or pot liquor from greens.
