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Calpurnia’s Crackling Bread

As a child I wrote short stories with long, drawn out descriptions of food. This would have been forgivable had I written the rest of the story in the same amount of detail. Apparently plot was never particularly important. This uneven focus has continued into my adult life. Seeing a commercial or even hearing a passing mention of food can make me fixate on it to the point that I feel physical pain if I don’t eat that particular thing. I watch cooking shows when I’m hungry so that when I finally tear myself away from the TV—salivating, stomach churning—the food I eat will taste even better. I might be a crazy person.

To Kill A Mockingbird at least pretends to have a plot (just kidding. Racial strife. It’s important.) Food works on many levels: as metaphor for racial segregation (the Black folks leave their offerings on the back porch, the white folks knock on the front door), as a reflection of socioeconomic status (affluence based on ingredients afforded by income) and as representation for Southern hospitality—the way you could expect the neighbors to drop by with a Lane Cake or lemon squares in times of tragedy. So much of life in Maycomb can be represented through food. I get a lot of satisfaction from this. It mirrors that first bite I take after watching Giada make carbonara and say “mah-zo-ray-a” between perfectly enunciated English words. You know, just in case you forgot she was Italian.

“Perhaps Calpurnia sensed that my day had been a grim one: she let me watch her fix supper. ‘Shut your eyes and open your mouth and I’ll give you a surprise,’ she said. It was not often that she made crackling bread, she said she never had time, but with both of us at school today had been an easy one for her. She knew I loved crackling bread.”

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I don’t know what to think about crackling bread. I prefer my cornbread less meaty, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I doused this in butter and pure Vermont maple syrup and it was amazing. I just don’t like pork that much.

I debated making my own cracklings, but ultimately—after wandering the meat section wide eyed and confused—I stumbled upon prepackaged cracklings and snatched them up. Going forward I would like to make everything from scratch. Just consider this introductory recipe my Sandra Lee-semi-homemade slip up (you know, boxed recipe + extra ingredient. Oh Sandra. You crazy lush.) See, if Calpurnia had employed this kind of half-assed strategy then maybe she’d have more time to make crackling bread. Just sayin’.

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Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup yellow or white corn meal, 1 cup all purpose flour, 2 cups buttermilk, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 cup pork cracklings, 2 tbsp bacon fat or crisco (makes about 6 servings)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat baking pan in bacon fat or crisco (I ended up cooking the bacon for the fat, crumbling it up and adding it in with the cracklings)

2. Mix dry ingredients. Pour in buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, use powdered buttermilk + water) and stir. Add eggs and cracklings. Mix well.

3. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 mins. Cool for 5 mins. Drizzle with butter, honey or maple syrup.

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Rebecca Ritchey

Writer & Creator of Eating Books.
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Comments

  3. anaudaciouspoet says

    The union of excellent food and excellent literature is a beautiful thing. I’ve been meaning to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but now you’ve definitely convinced me. 🙂

    Reply

  6. bbmishmash says

    Oh, Calpurnia — I haven’t thought about her in so long. Time for a re-read I think. Congrats on the Fresh Press! I too am a sucker for food scenes in books. Pretty sure the best gift I ever received was my first Little House on the Prairie cookbook. 🙂

    Reply

  9. Karl Drobnic says

    Books with food scenes are good, but I by far like movies with great food themes. “Big Night” comes immediately to mind. “Babette’s Feast” is another one that will send me to the stove.

    Reply

  10. Rae says

    I’m not sure how I feel about crackling bread either. I think I prefer my extra fat on bread to be in the form of liquid butter.

    Reply

    • eatingbooks says

      Me too. I let a pat of butter melt on top and that was quite good, but maple syrup helped to combat the additional saltiness from the cracklings so I preferred it like that.

      Reply

  11. The Moon is a Naked Banana says

    Reading my childhood diaries (ages 7 – 10) I am disturbed by how they consist almost soley of what we ate that day.
    ‘This morning we had porridge for breakfast. After I played outside with Sam. For lunch we had chicken sandwiches and muffins. In the afternoon I helped Mum make fritters for dinner. Grandma came to visit and brought a cake.’
    I also vividly remember my pride when I wrote ‘fishfingers’ in cursive for the first time. It was such a long word!

    Reply

  12. robertlampros says

    That’s a great idea for more interactive reading experiences. The only other food-in-literature I can think of is the bacon grease soaked biscuits in To Build a Fire, though, and that don’t sound particularly appetizing. Oh well.

    Reply

  16. cheerythunder says

    I love, love LOVE descriptions of food. I just love food. I’m actually currently writing a book and its totally missing some good food descriptions. Thanks for the reminder!

    Reply

    • eatingbooks says

      Happy it could take you back! I didn’t grow up on Southern cooking, but my little forays into these recipes have given me a new appreciation for it (next up I”ll have to try what my Kentucky friend calls “country ham.”)

      Reply

  19. hoosiergirl34787 says

    I love your Calpurnia references! To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book. I never thought about the racial inequalities through food. Thanks for the unique perspective.

    Reply

    • eatingbooks says

      Thank you! Also one of my favorite books 🙂 I never considered it until I began examining the book from a strictly foodie perspective (my favorite way to look at, well, everything)

      Reply

  24. Dragnfli says

    I will definitely have to go back and re-read that book from a culinary perspective. One question…did you break up the cracklings or put them in in large pieces? (In Texas, they’re pork rinds or chicharrones.)

    Reply

    • eatingbooks says

      I thought the pieces might be too big, so I did spend some time cutting them up on a cutting board. I think it may have worked out better if I had a food processor. I have to wonder if authentic crackling bread is best with those surprise bits of crackling when you take a bite or just that hint of smoky, pork flavor in the bread.

      Reply

  31. brennalayne says

    Lovely post and fabulous combination of two of life’s greatest pleasures! Have you read Yangsze Choo’s book The Ghost Bride? There’s some gorgeous food description, and Choo also has an amazing blog focused on reading and eating. Her tagline is “Likes to eat and read.” You two might be kindred spirits. 🙂

    Reply

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