Real Corn Bread is Not an Afterthought

Corn bread, as I used to know it, was boring and dry. It needed globs of honey or molasses along with a big wad of butter to create the illusion of good eating. I tried it in the Carolinas and again in the southwest. Even hush puppies, a fried version of corn bread with a strong southern mystique, left me scratching my head in bewilderment, wondering what all the fuss was about. I finally found a pretty good recipe in The Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas (Knopf, 1973), and thus began a journey to recover and redeem corn bread from its ignoble fall from grace, to make it a featured performer at meals, rather than an afterthought.