Johnnycake

Johnnycake, also known asjourney cake,johnny bread,hoecake,shawnee cakeorspider cornbread, is acornmealflatbread, a type ofbatter bread. An early Americanstaple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast fromNewfoundlandtoJamaica.The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the Bahamas, Belize, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Canada, Colombia,Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica,Puerto Rico,Saint Croix,Sint Maarten, Antigua,and the United States.
The modern johnnycake is found in thecuisine of New Englandand is often claimed as originating inRhode Island.A modern johnnycake is friedcornmealgruel, which is made from yellow or white cornmeal mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened. In theSouthern United States, the term used ishoecake, although this can also refer to cornbread fried in a pan.
The earliest attestation of the term "johnny cake" is from 1739 (in South Carolina); the spelling "journey cake" is attested only from 1775 on theGulf Coast, but may be the earlier form.
The word is likely based on the wordJonakin, recorded in New England in 1765, itself derived from the wordjannock, recorded in Northern England in the sixteenth century.According toEdward Ellis Morris, the term was the name given "... by the Americans to a cake made of Indian corn (maize)."
Another suggested derivation is that it comes fromShawnee cake, although some writers disagree.
The termhoecakeis first attested in 1745, and the term is used by American writers such asJoel BarlowandWashington Irving.The origin of the name is the method of preparation: they were cooked on a type of iron pan called a hoe. There is conflicting evidence regarding the common belief that they were cooked on the blades of gardening hoes.
A hoecake can be made either out of cornbread batter or leftover biscuit dough. A cornbread hoecake is thicker than a cornbread pancake.
Indigenous peoples of the Americasusing ground corn for cooking are credited with teaching Europeans how to make the food.It is also claimed that johnnycakes were made by theNarragansett peopleas far back as the 1600s.
From this culture came one of the main staples of the Southern diet:corn(maize).Corn was used to make all kinds of dishes from the familiarcornbreadandgritstoliquorssuch aswhiskeyandmoonshine, which were important trade items. Cornbread was popular during theAmerican Civil Warbecause it was very cheap and could be made in many different sizes and forms.  It could be fashioned into high-rising, fluffy loaves or simply fried for a fast meal.
Johnnycakes are an unleavenedcornbreadmade of cornmeal, salt, and water. Early cooks set thick corn dough on a wooden board orbarrel stave, which they leaned on a piece of wood or a rock in front of an open fire to bake.
In the American south during the 18th century versions were made with rice or hominy flour and perhaps cassava.A 1905 cookbook includes a recipe for "Alabama Johnny Cake" made with rice and 'meal'.
The difference between johnnycake and hoecake originally lay in the method of preparation, though today both are often cooked on a griddle or in a skillet. Some recipes call for baking johnnycakes in an oven,similar tocorn pones, which are still baked in the oven as they were traditionally.
Johnnycakes may also be made usingleavening, with or without other ingredients more commonly associated with Americanpancakes, such as eggs or solid fats like butter. Like pancakes, they are often served withmaple syrup,honey, or other sweet toppings.
According to the manuscript ofAmerica Eats, aWorks Progress Administration(WPA) guide to American food culture in the beginning decades of the twentieth century, Rhode Island "jonny cakes" were made in the 1930s as follows:
In Australia the bread usually known asdamper, made withwheat flourrather than cornmeal and cooked as smaller, individually-sized portions, is sometimes called "johnny cake".It is uncertain if this name was influenced by the term for North American cornmeal bread.Australian johnny cakes are baked in the hot ashes of a fire or fried in fat in a frying pan (skillet).
In the Bahamas, "johnny cake" refers to a bread made with flour, sugar, butter, and water. After being kneaded, the bread is baked until lightly browned, and has a soft and malleable middle. This bread is usually eaten with soup or on its own.The common bread consumed in the Bahamas in 1725 was made of corn and flour. According toMark Catesby, an English naturalist who visited North America and the Caribbean in the early 1700s, "Their bread is made of Maiz, or Indian Corn, and also of Wheat; the first they cultivate but not sufficient for their consumption. Wheat is imported to them in Flower from the Northern Colonies."
TheBoney Mmusic disco group sang about Johnny Cakes in their song, “Brown Girl in the Ring”, eating fried fish and Johnny Cakes on Saturday night.
Yaniquequesoryanikekeare a Dominican Republic version of the johnnycake, supposedly brought over in the nineteenth century by English-speaking migrants (possibly of Afro-Caribbean descent). These cakes are made with flour, baking powder, butter and water; they are typically deep-fried.They are a popular beach snack, especially inBoca Chica.
Johnnycakes refer to flat discs of deep-fried wheat bread dough in Curaçao, other Dutch overseas territories and areas with significant Dutch Antillean communities. They are usually leavened with baking powder or soda and generally do not contain cornmeal. They are usually eaten filled with a slice of Gouda cheese or salted cod.
Fried johnnycakes, also called fried dumplings, are a traditional staple across the island.They are made of flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, margarine or butter, and water or milk. The kneaded dough is fried in oil.
Within theBelizeSettlement, the British imported flour, with rations given to the enslaved. In the early Belize Settlement, “Johnny Cakes,” also known as “Journey Cakes,” were prepared over a firehart and eaten by the enslaved woodcutters. Belizean Journey Cakes are a small baked bread, leavened with baking power and scored on top with the kiss of a fork during proofing, to prevent “puffing” of the bread. Merchant Baymen of the Bay of Honduras (Belize), were linked to the New England Colonies.
The modern johnnycake is a staple in the traditional cuisine ofNew England,where it is believed to have originated inRhode Island.A modern jonnycake is friedgruelmade from yellow or white cornmeal that is mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened. In theSouthern United States, the same food is referred to as a hoecake.