[Sca-cooks] Corn Bread

[Volker Bach]

XvLoverCrimvX at aol.com schrieb:
>
> In a message dated 7/5/01 2:00:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> lilinah at earthlink.net writes:
>
> > Someone on our Kingdom list is arguing that old line: if they had
> >  ingredient X in period, they must have had cooked dish Y. In this
> >  case, the discussion is centering around...
> >
> >  Cornbread
> >
> >  My experiences in Europe indicate that even today, corn, i.e., maize,
> >  is not a commonly eaten food. This person is arguing that since
> >  Renaissance Europeans made bread, they must have made cornbread once
> >  they discovered corn.
> >
> >  I think that this is not a logical argument. Can anyone point out the
> >  pros or cons of this discussion? If i'm wrong, i'm willing to admit
> >  it.
> >
> >  Another person says that since they have a late period Spanish
> >  persona, they can freely eat tomatoes, potatoes, and corn.
> >
> >  IIRC, there is some evidence in the 16th c. for tomatoes cooked as a
> >  vegetable in Italy (and maybe Spain), and sweet potatoes (but not
> >  *white* potatoes) eaten in Spain in period. However, i don't recall
> >  maize coming up on this list as a food eaten in Spain or other parts
> >  of Europe in the 16th c.
> >
> >  I welcome all information - particularly about corn, i.e., maize.
> >
> >  Anahita
> >
>
> Corn was not found until people started to settle in America. Corn is totally
> America and I doubt cornbread was ever made in Europe in any period dishes. I
> would think Cornbread is more American than European which would make it
> un-period. I could be wrong though.

Again, the redoubtable Montanari traces the spread
of maize through Europe. Apparently it started out
as a novelty, eaten as a cooked vegetable and used
as a basis for various cooked and baked dishes (he
doesn't mention bread) in the 16th. It became a
staple crop through large parts of the
Mediterranean in the course of the 17th century.
Traditional Mediterranean cuisine from the period
onwards makes free use of maize gruel in various
forms (polenta comes to mind), but not, to my
knowledge, of maize bread. The general period
assumption was that bread equalled wheat, and
should properly be made of nothing else. Mixed
breads were lower-class stuff (even in Germany,
famous today for its rye breads). Of course,
breads in lean times would incliude just about
anything, so corn bread may well have happened,
but I know of no recipe, period source or study
that lists it as a regular dish.
AFAIK corn bread started its life as an American
'second best', something to be made if you
couldn't get wheat. That's not backed up by
anything more scholarly than the Saturday Evening
Post All-American Bicentenary Cookbook, though :-)

Giano