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Eat This Word: Spoonbread

JBF Editors

JBF Editors

December 16, 2015

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WHAT? "The apotheosis of cornbread." Or so said writer Redding Sugg. This Southern soufflé may take its moniker from suppon or suppawn, an Indian porridge. Perhaps the name stuck because this Southern comfort food is best eaten with a spoon. It's made from cornmeal, eggs, butter, and milk, sometimes enlivened with baking powder and a dash of sugar, and it's served across the South with country ham or rabbit stew or all on its own. Spoon bread is an any-meal kind of food: Jefferson, for instance, ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Spoonbread, according to Southern Food author John Egerton, is "the ultimate, glorified ideal of cornbread." True Grits author Joni Miller declares it "one of the most elegant and classic Southern dishes." An essential Southern savory, "a properly prepared spoonbread," Egerton writes, "can be taken as testimony to the perfectibility of humankind." 

WHERE? Tennessee Christmas

WHEN? Wednesday, December 16, 2015

HOW? Sweet Potato Spoonbread with Sausage Balls and Celery Root Mostarda