History
Cornbread is the Southern bread, predating wheat-flour biscuits in Alabama and persisting through Reconstruction as the staple grain bread. Birmingham meat-and-three counters serve it with every plate; Niki's West runs the cafeteria version, Eagle's serves it with collards and Saw's puts it next to the white-sauce smoked chicken. The Alabama version is unsweetened or only mildly sweetened; sweet Southern cornbread is a more Northern interpretation.
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Common allergens: Dairy, Eggs
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 250g yellow cornmeal
- 100g all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional, Alabama style uses very little)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 360ml buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 60g bacon fat or butter, melted (plus 2 tablespoons for the skillet)
Method
- Preheat oven to 220C / 425F.
- Place the 2 tablespoons of bacon fat or butter in a 25cm cast-iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven to heat.
- Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs and melted fat. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Pull the hot skillet out, swirl the fat to coat, and pour in the batter. It should sizzle when it hits the pan.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then turn out onto a board.
Tip from the editors. The skillet must be screaming hot before the batter hits it; that's what gives the canonical crackly bottom crust.
Where to eat cast-iron cornbread
Cast-Iron Cornbread in Birmingham
Niki's West ★ 4.8
Niki's West on Finley Avenue West Birmingham has run the meat-and-three from a cafeteria steam table since 1957, opposite the Alabama Farmers Market.
Why locals goTourists rarely cross the rail tracks to the Acipco-Finley district to find this 1957 cafeteria; locals queue for the catfish.
TipGet there by 12:30 for the fried catfish and turnip greens; weekday lunch is the peak.
Eagle's Restaurant ★ 4.7
Eagle's Restaurant on 16th Street North in Smithfield is the Black-owned soul-food anchor since 1951, with the Friday catfish and a multi-generation kitchen.
Why locals goThe Smithfield Black-owned soul-food kitchen since 1951 sits a block from Acipco and most non-locals never find it.
TipOrder the Friday catfish; closed Saturday and Monday so plan around the schedule.
Saw's BBQ ★ 4.5
Saw's BBQ in Homewood near Birmingham serves the canonical Mike Wilson pulled-pork sandwich with Alabama white sauce slaw under $12 from the 2009 shack.
TryPulled pork sandwich, $9-12
Cast-Iron Cornbread in Jackson
Bully's Restaurant ★ 4.7
Bully's is the best-value James Beard award-winning meal in the United States: oxtails, catfish, and six sides for under $14, in a modest dining room.
OrderOxtail plate with mixed greens, mac and cheese, and yams
TipArrive before 13:00 for the widest steam table selection; popular items sell out.
Campbell's Bakery ★ 4.4
Campbell's Bakery has made the same iced tea cakes and petit fours since 1962 from recipes unchanged since opening, in a Fondren shop that Jackson residents.
Why locals goA 1962 Fondren institution beloved by locals for petit fours and iced tea cakes, almost entirely unknown outside Jackson despite being one of the state's oldest continuously oper
TipOrder a dozen petit fours to take away as a Jackson food souvenir; they ship nationwide.
Hen and Egg ★ 4.2
Hen and Egg's Sunday brunch buffet features Gulf shrimp grits, gumbo, and chef Nick Wallace's rotating Southern dishes from a first-floor service station.
OrderSunday brunch buffet upstairs with Gulf shrimp grits and rotating Southern favourites
TipThe Sunday brunch buffet has the most variety; weekday breakfasts are counter-service and faster.
More cities are in research. Want cast-iron cornbread covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.