Evening star., 1901-09-27
THE JOHNNY CAKE.
Approved Way of Baking 1t In Vogue
in the South.

From the Richmond Va) Dispatch.
A learned and apprecative friend Of
Montgomery, Ala, expresses his pleasure
upon reading the Dispatchs article on the
subject Of "roastin ears and open fire.
places; but is surprised that we omitted
all reference to Johnny cake in our enume-
ration of the excellent things belonging to
the old-time cuisine, so to speak"
We plead not guilty Of any malicious
purpose to ignore the esteemed Johnny
cake, but, really, we did not know an open
fire was necessary to cook 1t properly. Our
recollections of the old Aunt Dinah chefs
Of the country and of the accomplished SOL
der cooks whom we knew in the confeder-
ate army was that they cooked the Johnny
cake either In a frying pan or a skillet.
But We are advised by high authority that
though some spurious Johnny cakes, so
baked. may have found acceptance with
the Voraclous but undiScriminating youth
OF the period mentioned, the real Johnny
cake must be baked or toasted on a board
set on it's edge before an open fire. A
quantity of cornmeal should be mixed with
water or milk seasoned with salt, well
stirred, and then the dough should be
spread thinly over the board aforesaid. In
some cases a small piece of butter is used
In the seasoning. but we doubt If 1t was
so in the original" The Johnny cake has
its origin in the negro cabin, where bacon
grease was much more likely to be found
than butter. And 1t has been asserted con-
hdently that none but negro can make a
faultless Johnny cake. Yet up in New
England white folks are not only under
taking to mix and bake Johnny cake, but
actually they have added as a new ingre-
dent mashed pumpkin.
We find the Century Dictionary citing
Joel Barlow, in HaSty Pudding, saying:
Some talk Of hoe-cake, fair yirginia's pride;
Rich Johnny cake this mouth has often tried.
m we'll fhaf vfr rfn p,,,ah tna
Alike their fabric. as allied their name.
Except Except, in dear ear New England, where the last
Receives a dash Of pumpkin In the pasta.
So much for the Johnny cake, which is
good enough. but was never so popular in
the Army Of Northern Virginia as the
"slap-dash." The latter was cooked In q
frying pan, Drowned on both sides, and
some experts could toss 1t out Of the pan
ten feet in the air and catch 1t in the
pan as 1t came down on 'tother side. II
made a delightful meal for hungry men
and is very anectionately remembered by
many who now have better food, but far
less appetite than they had then. The ety.
mology Of Johnny cake We do not certainly
know. The name, we believe, is Of Afro
American origin Some investigators have
tried to make it appear that Johnny is
a corruption Of Journey" but we have not
seen the evidence upon which they rely.
Mr.. ]. 8. c. Abbott, in his life Of Daniel
Boone, accepts that explanation. But the
its antedating 'the civil war; we might
guess that 1t was name given by the
ankS 10 tne appetlzlng cornmeal cakes
baked by the "Johnnies," but 1t preceded
the "Johnnies' by many decades. In some
parts Of England Johnny is a slang term
for dandy or a masher, and 1t may be
possible to trace the name back to that
source. Certain we are that the Johnny
cake" is a dandy, and in the way Of win
ming juvenile hearts Is 'masher," too.
The most we know Is that Johnny cake
was a favorite bread in the negro cabins
and was not despised in the great house"
c'gret us''). where the negress cooks often
made it to the delight of their masters
children.