Hoe cakes

● Ingredients

○ 1 cup of white stone cornmeal

○ ¾ of boiling hot water

○ ½ teaspoon of salt

○ ¼ cup of lard, vegetable oil or shortening

Cooking Steps

  1. Mix the cornmeal and salt in a bowl.

  2. Add the boiling water, stir constantly and mix it well and allow the mixture to sit for about ten minutes.

  3. Melt the frying fat in the skillet and get it hot, but do not allow it to reach smoking.

  4. Two tablespoons of batter can be scooped up to make a hoecake.

  5. Form it into a small thin pancake and add to the pan.

  6. Fry on each side 2-3 minutes until firm and lightly brown.

  7. Set on paper towels to drain and serve immediately once all the hoecakes have been cooked.

Equipment

★ Mixing bowl

★ Stove

★ Spatula

★ Pan

★ Measuring cup

Anachronisms:

★ Coleman stove: Slaves would have boiled their water over a fire because they did not have stoves.

★ Vegetable oil or shortening: Slaves would have had to use lard or some other type of fat because vegetable oil was not around.

★ Modern cooking equipment: Slaves did not have modern cooking equipment like skillets and measuring cups.

The hoe cake was a dish that enslaved African Americans made. The story behind the hoe cake is that “enslaved people baked hoecakes on a hoe in the fields for their midday meal” (Michael Witty). The hoe cake has different recipes depending on what state the slave was in. There was Virginia hoe cake and the Maryland hoe cake. “Some Maryland hoecakes were made over a griddle in the hearth (also known as a hoe), others were baked on a “bannock” board placed facing the fire.”(Michael Witty). Even though hoe cakes were associated primarily with enslaved people, George Washington was said to have eaten them. “George Washington’s favorite breakfast was hoecakes and honey,” according to Michael Witty. The hoe cake was very important to slave culture because it was one of the main sources of food for them during that time period.

Work Cited

Michael Witty, Afroculinaria

https://afroculinaria.com/2011/11/10/a-few-antebellum-african-american-recipes/


Ethan W, Chris P, Kenny K, Matt C, Jake D