What is Virginia Spoon Bread?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

November 19, 2002

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

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Jamestown Colonists Dealing Out the Last Kernels of Corn During the Starving Time, 1609-1610 Buy Giclee Print at AllPosters.com

In 1607, the settlers of Jamestown (Virginia) were no more prepared to build a colony than the earlier settlement at Roanoke (North Carolina). The Roanoke colony started in 1587 with 117 men, women, and children; it vanished before 1590. Of the 214 Jamestown group, half were listed as gentlemen and by winter the colony was starving. The Powhatan brought enough maize for Jamestown to survive that first winter; the following spring the Powhatan taught the colonists how to plant the American grain.

Paul C. Mangelsdorf wrote, "Corn has now become the basic food plant of our modern American civilization. True, we consume directly only small amounts of corn: roasting ears, breakfast cereals, Indian pudding, and, for a somewhat different purpose, a beverage invented by a Kentucky minister of the Gospel, Bourbon whiskey. But transformed...into meat, milk, eggs...it is our basic food plant, as it was of the people who preceded us in this hemisphere." (Corn, Its Origin, Evolution, and Improvement, 1974, Belknap Press)

Virginia Spoon Bread was a staple served at tables at the time of the Revolutionary War. Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, explained, "Spoon bread is simply a very rich and dense corn bread, a dish so dense that it must be served up with a spoon. General Washington loved this dish and it was apparently served quite often at Mount Vernon (Washington's plantation)."

1 cup cornmeal, white or yellow		2 cups milk, scalded
1 ½ teaspoons salt		2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs, separated

Mix the cornmeal and salt together and stir them into the hot milk. Cook over very low heat, stirring all the time, until thick and smooth. Continue cooking for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly. Stir in the baking powder and well-beaten yolks, and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Turn into a greased casserole or 8-inch-square pan. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) about 35 minutes, or until the bread is firm and the crust is brown. Serve from the baking dish. Serves eight. (From The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, Jeff Smith, 1987)

The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has an excellent website about Jamestown. To learn more about the follies, trials, and tribulations of the colonists, click on the link:

http://www.apva.org/history/

There are numerous text links including a picture and biography of the beautiful princess, Pocahontas.

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

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