Southern Skillet Cornbread

Cornbread is America's oldest bread. Native peoples were grinding corn and baking it on hot stones centuries before European settlers arrived with their wheat flour and bread pans. What we call Southern cornbread today represents generations of adaptation: African American cooks in plantation kitchens, Appalachian families stretching meager supplies, church ladies perfecting their recipes for Wednesday night suppers. This bread carries history in every crumb.

The cast iron skillet isn't optional. It's the whole point. You preheat that pan until it's smoking, slick it with fat, and pour in your batter. The bottom crust begins forming before you can close the oven door. That's the sizzle you're listening for. That's the sound of proper cornbread.

Now, I'll address the great Southern debate: sugar. Traditionalists from the Deep South will tell you sugar has no place in cornbread. They're not wrong for their tradition. But plenty of Southern grandmothers added a spoonful or two, and I won't argue with grandmothers. This recipe includes a modest amount. You can reduce it or omit it entirely. The cornbread will be honest either way.

What matters more than sugar is your cornmeal. Stone-ground if you can find it. The texture is rougher, more interesting on the tongue. Industrial cornmeal works, but you'll miss something. Like the difference between a tomato from your garden and one shipped across the country in January. Both are tomatoes. Only one tastes like summer.