Makes 1 (12-inch) skillet bread
A great debate about sugar and Southern cornbread rages. Although people often think of it in terms of North and South, it turns out that the debate divides pretty much on racial lines. Typically, African American cornbread contains sugar; white Southern cornbread most often does not. Charlotte Observer food editor Kathleen Purvis wrote an award-winning article on black versus white cornbread. In it she asks, “So many Southern food traditions are shared by both races. Most Southerners, black and white, revere fried chicken, pursue pork barbecue and exalt their grandmothers’ garden vegetables. So why is there such a fundamental difference between two styles of one basic bread?”
Until early in the twentieth century, Southern cornmeal was made from sweeter-tasting white corn stone-ground in a water-powered mill. But higher-yielding yellow corn varieties, which are not as sweet, are more suited for industrial agriculture. As African Americans left the South during the Great Migration, the sweeter white cornmeal they were used to wasn’t readily available; the industrially milled yellow cornmeal was cheaper and easier to access. But because it was not as sweet as the white cornmeal they were used to, African Americans started adding sugar to compensate. You can use either white or yellow cornmeal for this recipe.
1 Heat the oven to 450°F. Once the oven is hot, place the butter in a large cast-iron skillet or ovenproof baking dish and heat in the oven until brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Preheating the skillet ensures that when the batter is poured into the skillet, it swells and instantly crisps; it also browns the butter.)
2 Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the cornmeal, thyme, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine the egg and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
3 Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the hot melted butter into the batter. Working quickly, sprinkle the hot skillet with the remaining 2 tablespoons coarse cornmeal.
4 Stir the batter to combine and then pour it into the hot skillet. Top with a few grinds of pepper. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cut into wedges to serve.