Easter Series: Food and African and African American Religion Part 4

Sweet onion cornbread muffins, recipe below

In my book Hog and Hominy http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14638-8/hog-and-hominy, I show that that in the Antebellum South, it was not uncommon for masters to give their slaves permission and support to attend organized religious meetings such as Sunday church services and revivals. Annual revival meetings, which the Baptists called “protracted meetings” and the Methodists called “camp meetings,” were morally sanctioned religious events that provided opportunities for all southerners to socialize, gather news, worship the Lord, evangelize, and feast on food. Church picnics and all-day preaching and dinner on the grounds became a tradition basic to southern church people, a label that culturally characterized most African Americans by the mid-nineteenth century. Religious workers regularly organized several weeklong revivals that were often interracial, community-wide events. Fredrika Bremer described a camp meeting revival she observed during a visit to Macon, Georgia, in May of 1850. At sunrise, Bremer woke to the delightful sound of African Americans singing hymns and the delicious smell of frying ham and eggs, simmering red-eye gravy, steaming rice or grits, and baking buttermilk biscuits and corn bread. Here is a cornbread recipe reminiscent of food eaten for breakfast during this camp meeting.

Sweet Onion Cornbread Recipe

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onions
1 cup unbleached spelt (or white) flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup low fat soy (or low-fat regular) milk
1 egg substitute or (1 egg white or a reconstituted powder egg white)

Method
Grease muffin tins (or a large cast iron skillet) with a butter substitute or use cooking spray. Sauté onions until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes. In a large bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and pepper. In a smaller bowl, briskly mix the milk, egg white and cooked onions together. Combine the dry ingredients, mixing just until blended. Spread batter in the skillet and or pan. Bake until the cornbread's sides begin to pull away from the pan, approximately 20 minutes. Let cook and then remove from the pan, serves 6.