Cornbread and Black Life
Jiffy Jalapeno Cornbread, one of my favorite variations of cornbread
As a self-proclaimed foodie, I love to try different cuisines across cultures. In my experience, food is a universal love language, and a way to connect with people across different cultures when language fails. When first told we would be writing a blog post on cornbread, I knew I wanted to explore the connection between cornbread and its variations across the Black diaspora.
Although not made from corn, fufu shares a similar purpose to cornbread; in many African countries, it is accompanied as a side dish to meals. Within the context of this blog post, the term fufu will be used to describe “[the] pounding [of] starchy food crops such as cassava, yam, plantain and others with hot water” [1]. Depending on the country and region, the name for fufu varies. When I went into The HistoryMakers Digital Archive, I searched for “fufu”, which yielded 7 search results. During his childhood in Cape Coast, Ghana, electrical engineer Herbert Winful (1952-) describes attending Catholic church on Sundays and the meal following the service:
“And we’d walk to church and then come home and feast on, what we called fufu, you know, fufu is this dough made of pounded, boiled cassava and plantain. So fufu and Abenkwan, which is peanut butter soup, you know, with chicken in it; so Sundays we tended to eat fufu. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant Nkatenkwan—Nkatenwan, which is peanut butter soup; Abenkwan is palm nut soup [2]. ”
Fufu made with a mix of cassava and plantain
PHOTO CREDITS: https://cheflolaskitchen.com/fufu-recipe-how-to-make-fufu/
Additionally, search results also yielded two videos from dancer and choreographer Ferne Yangyeitie Caulker’s (1947- ) interview, with one describing her childhood in Sierra Leone and another listing her favorites. When asked to detail some of her favorites, Caulker describes her favorite foods:
“These are dishes that are national dishes , Sierra Leone, made out of palm oil. You eat them with rice and they can have smoked fish in it and oxtails and just all of the comfort food. And then the best is when it is served with fufu, which is made out of cassava. Sierra Leone fufu is very distinct and that’s one of my favorite dishes. [3] ”
Prior to discussing fufu, Caulker draws similarities between okra, a vegetable prevalent in many in African-American households and her favorite dish, kren-kren:
“ I have a favorite food and it’s a home food from Sierra Leone and it’s made out of palm oil. It’s called kren-kren (laughter) and kren-kren is like a greens and it’s the way it’s cooked. The best texture for me to say is it’s a little slimy, it’s like okra. It has the texture of okra, but there’s nothing like it—that and cassava leaf [3]. ”
Krain krain with cassava fufu
PHOTO CREDITS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJnHz1pei0
Within my search results for “fufu”, I noticed that the term, “cassava” also appeared within the quotes since fufu is typically made from cassava leaves. I then searched “cassava” in the digital archive, which yielded 17 results. Although “cassava” yielded more search results, I wanted to see if there were any more stories that mentioned both “cassava” AND “fufu”, so I typed in “Cassava” + “fufu”, which yielded four search results. One new search result appeared with civil rights lawyer Randolph Michael McLaughlin (1953-) discussing the foods he ate in a small village in Liberia called Smell No Taste:
“So they bring me into this small little hole in the wall kitchen place, you know, whatever. And they bring me fufu. And I, the food, oh, my god, it was the best food I’ve ever had in life. I still eat and cook Liberian food to this very day. And fufu is just like cassava, doughy kind of a thing, it’s hard to even describe, you know [4]. ”
After this search result, I decided to go back to the search, “cassava”, which had previously yielded 17 results. I further analyzed the stories within the search, which led me to Jessica B. Harris (1948 -), a culinary historian who has written many cookbooks on African and Caribbean cuisine. In the search result for “cassava”, I watched the tape, “Jessica B. Harris talks about African history that frames 'The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent'”. After reading her biography, I selected her full interview and searched for the term “corn” within her stories, which yielded 4 results. In one of the videos within the interview, Harris discusses the cultural connections and history behind a plate of food:
“If somebody comes to you and say, “What you got on your plate for dinner?” and you say, “I got some chitterlings and some black-eyed peas and rice and some collard greens with some hot sauce, and maybe some cornbread or some corn pone,” and that person can get back to you and say, “well you know your history’s on that plate,” ‘cause the corn pone comes from the lake with the Indians [Native Americans] ‘cause the word pone is basically a Native American word, and the corn was part of the three sisters: corn, squash and beans, because they grew in symbiosis [5]. ”
Corn, bean, and squash, which are known as “The Three Sisters” in the Native American community
In this quote, Harris acknowledges how the origins of cornbread stems from Native Americans and how corn along with squash and beans was an integral part of their diet. Not wanting to be obvious and search “cornbread” in the digital archive, I decided to search “corn meal”, which is what cornbread is made from. The search term, “corn meal” yielded 42 results. One of the results led to minister and author Reverend Dr. Millicent Hunter (1950-). In her interview, Hunter discusses her paternal family’s Native American ancestry. Before moving to Philadelphia, Hunter spent part of her childhood in North Carolina and describes the influence of both the Native American and African American within her community:
“Frying corn and making meal out of corn, and instead of cornbread looking like cake, which I never experienced ‘til moving to Philadelphia [Pennsylvania], I always thought cornbread was a fried meal kind of a concoction [6]. ”
Simple fried cornmeal
PHOTO CREDITS: https://www.asimplehomecook.com/old-fashioned-fried-cornmeal-mush/
Although most of us envision cornbread as a leavened, cake-like dish, Hunter’s cultural heritage of not having cornbread “looking like cake” inspired me to think outside-the-box and search for variations of cornbread. I completed a new search and searched for “corn” + bread”, which yielded 43 results. Within one of the search results, Edwin Rigaud (1943-), the first African American vice president for Procter & Gamble (P&G) shares the origin of the term, “hushpuppy”:
“…the origin of the term, hushpuppy. The little fried bread food. Hushpuppy was an Underground Railroad term when slaves were escaping, they would have with them these hushpuppies, which were fried bread-type pieces, cornbread, I guess, type food that they had laced with cyanide. And they would drop these so the hounds would eat them.” [7].
Hushpuppies
PHOTO CREDITS: https://shewearsmanyhats.com/beer-batter-hush-puppies-recipe/
With hushpuppies being one of my favorite variations of cornbread (along with jalapeno cornbread), learning the history behind the meaning within The HistoryMakers Digital Archive fascinated me. After writing about cornbread, I would like to continue exploring the connections between other foods such as rice, beans, and potatoes within the Black diaspora.
SEARCH RESULTS:
“cornbread” (222)
“corn + “bread” (43)
“Hoecake” (3)
“Fufu” (7)
“Cassava” (17)
“Cassava” + “fufu” (4)
“Cornmeal” (21)
“Corn meal” (3)
“corn” + “meal” (42)
hushpuppy (3)
“Hush” + “puppy” (5)
REFERENCES
https://www.okayafrica.com/what-is-fufu-a-quick-guide-to-africas-staple-food/
Herbert Winful (The HistoryMakers A2012.181), interviewed by Larry Crowe, October 23, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, Herbert Winful describes the duality of growing up both as a Catholic and as a Fante
Ferne Yangyeitie Caulker (The HistoryMakers A2007.336), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 30, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 2, Ferne Yangyeitie Caulker lists her favorites
Randolph Michael McLaughlin (The HistoryMakers A2005.130), interviewed by Shawn Wilson, July 29, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 7, story 7, Randolph Michael McLaughlin describes the foods of Liberia
Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 8, Jessica B. Harris reflects upon the history and cultural connections discerned by studying food
Reverend Dr. Millicent Hunter (The HistoryMakers A2014.196), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 12, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Reverend Dr. Millicent Hunter describes her paternal family's Native American heritage
Edwin Rigaud (The HistoryMakers A2006.049), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 23, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 2, Edwin Rigaud shares the origin of the term hush puppy
