Customer Reviews

The Cornbread Book: A Love Story with Recipes

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the kind of cookbook that is as entertaining as it is useful. I've already used three of the recipes (my kids are big fans of cornbread in all its various forms), and all were winners. Gem & Pearl muffins are a decadent breakfast treat, and the two types of cornbread we made were a big hit: suffice to say that there were no leftovers. Next time we'll have to make double batches. Jackson is very funny and charming, and his deep appreciation for his subject comes through on every page. I think we'll be breaking this book out on a regular basis!

What a fresh voice to discover in the cookbook aisle--I was so charmed that I paid full-price! (And the recipes are fabulous, too.)

As someone who once longed for an MFA of her own but is now in culinary school studying pastry arts, I couldn't possibly be more appreciative of Mr. Jackson's talents--unless he were to provide color commentary all day long while I baked. I will without doubt be purchasing his other efforts, both literary & culinary.

I confess to not having tried a single recipe yet, but this book gets five stars from me just for the read. Jeremy Jackson is the next Edouard de Pomiane - very, very funny, surprising, smart, literate, and enthusiastic. Even if you hate cornbread (one word, note), you must have it. Buy it, read it, laugh out loud, and preheat your oven to 350F, because you, like me, will be dying to pup a butter-slathered hunk of cornbread down the hatch before you get half-way through.

Mr. Jackson's book is not only informative but the recipes are the best I've ever found. There's nothing like a "from scratch" recipe for full flavor and these cornbread recipes have proven to be great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. This is definitely a book for all of us cornbread lovers.

I've had this book since it was published in 2003, and at this point, my copy is lightly dusted with cornmeal from near-constant use. Sure, Jackson's prose is laugh-out-loud, read-it-to-the-nearest-person funny, but this book is a keeper because the recipes are terrific. By now I've surely memorized the recipe for Sweet Cornbread, but I still like to take out this sunny little yellow book and prop it open while I bake.

Smart, literate,and funny--and it's all about the cornbread, not about the author, who obligingly gives center stage to the greatness that is cornmeal. A book to use, enjoy, and give to a friend.

BTW: I don't know this guy, I've never heard of him, and wish I'd written this little jewel.

This book is great. It's creative, well written, funny, and I've made many of the recipes. Who doesn't have corn in their cupboard or freezer? Use it for something better than southwest pasta salad.

This book provides a cook a basic knowledge of corn meal and flour. From the knowledge obtained from the book a beginning or established cook can prepare all types of breads. Further more after reading all the materials a cook can be creative with flavors and new creations.

`The Cornbread Book', the first book from Jeremy Jackson subtitled `a love story with recipes' is a delightful little 120 page book written with the kind of devotion to its subject which simply draws you in and makes you love the subject almost as much as the author. And, one is drawn to affection for the author's candor in acknowledging himself for having done the lion's share of work toward completing this book. This is oddly refreshing when weighed against the `cast of thousands' acknowledgments which you find in some books where entries seem to be rewards for nothing more than a gratis contribution of a recipe or doing that for which you are being paid anyway.

For a list price of $14.95, we get what may be considered not much more than a series of articles from John Thorne or James Villas, but I still think it's worth it. This may be considered a culinary novella. It is the food world's version of `Death in Venice' by Thomas Mann or `Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad. Please overlook the fact that it was not written by M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, Jeffrey Steingarten, or Julia Child. It is a very promising first work and since I have already reviewed Master Jackson's second book, the somewhat more substantial `desserts that have killed better men than me', I expect better and better things from this author, as long as he can find things other than cornbread with to develop a love.

Master Jackson's attachment to cornbread begins with what may be considered a baptism with corn meal, as in the chill Midwest, where one could not go out and play in the wickedly cold winter, Jackson had a little indoor sandbox filled with cornmeal which during naps and other slumbers, was stored in a great glass jar, separated from the corn meal reserved for baking.

Since this little book is devoted to but a single rather limited subject, you can be sure that Master Jackson covers it from just about every angle. The fact that it is limited can be demonstrated that in contrast, the seemingly small and related subject of bread baking in England consumes almost 600 pages from the pen of the great Elizabeth David.

The thing which most distinguishes cornbread baking from baking with wheat is the great variety of forms and possibilities created by wheat's gluten protein forming powers which lends itself to all sorts of leavenings, the most important of which is yeast leavening. Corn flour dough, and virtually every other type of flour dough simply does not create gluten, which is why wheat is mixed in with lots of other types of flours. But obviously, this does not stop our ancestors, especially those who trace their lineage back to pre-Columbian Americans from making various types of bread from corn meal and us.

Before boring you much further with my rants about this splendid little book, let me say that I believe the finest use of various cornbread recipes herein are as accompaniments to soups and stews. As a relatively slow amateur cook, the making of one major dish usually takes up all my creative energies come mealtime. Thus, there isn't much time to spend making an imaginative starch side dish, with the possible exception of the simplest pasta with oil and garlic.

Therefore, if you run through this book and master but one or two of these recipes so that you can do them without consulting the printed page, you can immediately branch out and add all sorts of things to this simple recipe and amaze your family with a scrumptious main dish accompanied by great fresh cornbread.

The book covers four different types of cornbread recipes, basic, `beyond basic', sweet, and yeast cornbreads. To this is added a chapter on what to do with leftover cornbreads. Note that many of the recipes, especially those in the `beyond basic' and `sweet' chapters are much more like cakes, cookies, and other dessert dishes than they are like `breads'. That doesn't mean Master Jackson is moving off message. He very gently reminds us he is on track when he gives us recipes for a corn meal crepe, but not recipes for crepe fillings, as this is not a book about crepes!

One of my few disappointments with this book is that Master Jackson does not explain the anomaly in Yankee cornbread recipes containing sugar while Johnny Reb recipes being less sweet, while most other southern cooking tends to be richer than its northern cousins. Virtually the only culinary danger I found was the phrase which combined Jalapeno and Habanero chilis as suggestions for a certain type of recipe while taking no notice of the truly great difference in heat to be found in these two varieties of chili.

My greatest surprise and joy in reading this book was the discovery of popcorn meal, created exactly as you might expect, by grinding up popcorn into a flour and using it exactly as you may use any other type of flour.

If you are a foodie of just about any stripe whatsoever, it is hard to deny yourself the pleasure of this little book, as it is inexpensive and full of easy, useful, tasty recipes.

Very highly recommended.