The Cornbread Book: A Love Story with Recipes
The author of the novel Life at These Speeds turns his attention-gleefully and surprisingly-to cornbread in a quirky cookbook that boasts delicious recipes and a nice bite of cornbread history. After an introduction in which he proclaims that cornbread should be the country's official bread (new U.S. citizens should get a piece of it after the swearing-in) and unofficial bread, too (it ought to be on all fast-food menus), Jackson offers a brief account of the foodstuff's place in America's past. Interesting tidbits abound: archeo-botanists think it was popcorn that clued people into corn's edibility some 7,000 years ago; corn is both grain and a vegetable; and in 1917, a cookbook suggested that bleary-eyed early risers make "1917 War Coffee," in which molasses-coated toasted corn was supposed to stand in for ground coffee. Jackson's recipes include both basic (Sweet Cornbread is cakey and rich) and highly inventive (Popcorn Focaccia is excellent, and involves Jackson's own method of milling flour from popcorn) breads. Other treats include Caramel Corncake, classic Griddlecakes, Crinkle-Top Sugar Cookies and Honey Snail, a sweet yeast bread Jackson says can be eaten so many ways that it's "pure breakfast anarchy." Humble cornbread has found an impassioned champion and a creative baker in Jackson.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.