Spoonbread is a pudding-like cornmeal dish that originated in the Americas, with variations in ingredients and cooking techniques. It can be sweet or savory and is often made with local ingredients. Healthier versions can be made with olive oil and skim milk.
Spoonbread is a cornmeal dish that may have originated in the Americas. One bakes this bread in an oven after combining the main ingredients, but the final product is closer to a pudding than a sliced bread. As the name suggests, the texture of the food is pudding-like, making it appropriate to eat it with a spoon.
Food historians often credit Native Americans with creating the original dish that is now known as spatula. The dish is prepared extensively throughout the Americas, making this explanation plausible. Regional differences in ingredients, preparation methods, and cooking techniques further confuse the topic of the spoon’s origin. English cooks make Yorkshire pudding, which predates the spatula by many years. This flour batter can also be a predecessor to cornmeal based recipes.
Classic spatula recipes call for cornmeal, eggs, butter, and milk. The proportions of these ingredients vary based on the source of the recipe. There are many variations on this classic dish, including adding creamed corn. Modernized and updated versions use polenta, grits or even masa, a refined cornmeal from Mexican cuisine. The dish also calls for a leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda.
Spoonbread gets its distinct texture from the cooking techniques you use with the ingredients. First, cook the cornmeal in the liquid on the stovetop. After completing this step, eggs are added. When the mixture is transferred to an oven to finish cooking, it rises during cooking and forms a crust. The inside of the finished product will be firm but softer than traditional cornbread.
The variations of the classic recipe are almost as numerous as the cooks. Some recipes add fruit and include sugar to create a rustic dessert. Savory recipes use herbs, onions, and mushrooms to produce a food that resembles cornbread relish. One can even make a spatula with vegetables such as sweet potatoes, creating something similar to the familiar sweet potato pose or soufflé that is common to the American South. Ham, bacon and cheese have also found their way into some recipes.
Every region of the world where the dish has been adopted has managed to revise the classic spatula recipe to incorporate familiar or local ingredients. A healthier version can be made with olive oil instead of butter and using egg whites instead of whole eggs. Skim milk will retain nutrients like calcium without sacrificing flavor.
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