Books like Housekeeping in Old Virginia are invaluable in showing how long the corn-pone and ash-cake tradition lasted in the rural South. Here is a recipe contributed by “Mrs. S.T.” for the 1879 collection, which tells the cook to knead her cornmeal with water, make it into cakes, “sweep a clean place on the hottest part of the hearth,” put the cakes on it, cover them with hot ashes, then wash and wipe dry before eating. If you put the cake on a cabb
