Aunt Anne'S Delicious Corn-Bread

This recipe hails from 'Cooking in old Créole days. La cuisine créole à l'usage des petits ménages,' published in 1903, a pivotal moment when American and Creole culinary traditions mingled in bustling cities like New Orleans and Baltimore. Recipes from this period reflect a blend of Southern US and French-Caribbean influences, using ingredients like hominy and cornmeal, staples deeply rooted in indigenous and African foodways. During the early 1900s, home cooks relied on instinct and visual cues over precise measures, interpreting terms like 'the size of a hickory nut' or 'a pinch' by experience. This creole-style cornbread combines native American maize traditions with the rich French and Caribbean-style eggily enriched batters typical of the region's historic kitchens.

Original cooks would have used a large earthenware or wooden mixing bowl and a sturdy spoon or whisk, possibly of wood. Hominy would be boiled over a wood or coal-fired stove. Eggs would be beaten in by hand, and soft butter would be mixed using a small knife or the cook’s fingers. The batter would be poured into a well-greased iron or tin baking pan, then placed in a wood-fired oven or a stove oven. No electric mixers were available; all the whipping and kneading were done with energy and elbow grease.