Cornbread is yellow-cornmeal batter baked in a cast-iron skillet with a butter or bacon-fat crust, the canonical Southern bread for any savory meal; in United States we have verified places to eat it in Birmingham and Jackson.

Cornbread · Birmingham

Cornbread is yellow-cornmeal batter baked in a cast-iron skillet with a butter or bacon-fat crust, the canonical Southern bread for any savory meal.

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.

Where to eat in Birmingham:

Where to eat Cornbread in Birmingham: the editor picks

Cast-Iron Cornbread · Jackson

Mississippi cornbread is baked in a cast-iron skillet preheated with fat, creating a crackling golden crust on the bottom and sides while the inside stays tender and slightly crumbly.

Where to eat in Jackson:

Where to eat Cast-Iron Cornbread in Jackson: the editor picks