There’s nothing that ties families together during holidays like a special traditional dish gracing the Thanksgiving or Christmas table. When the meal is spread and everyone gathers around to say grace thanking God for His bounty, there’s always the one foundational dish that sets mouths watering and taste buds soaring. From coconut pie to the infamous can of red jellied cranberry sauce, every group of kinfolks and clans have their favorites.
Queen among traditional Southern family holiday celebrations and the foods that make them so special is the delectable pan of cornbread dressing. (Let those north of the Mason-Dixon line have their stuffing!) No other dish can spark the depth of memories and emotions equal to this mouthwatering creation. Furthermore, it is uniquely Southern with ancestorial roots that go back to native Americans and early Africans and every mama and grandma that has stood in front of a stove and stirred a pot. As to whose recipe is best, just ask the kids and grandchildren and they’ll quickly inform you that mama’s recipe can’t be beaten!
Historically, cornbread dressing is older than the country itself, with some evidence of a similar dish made in the Roman empire then later existing as ‘Kush’ – a dish made by Africans from tiny balls of grain like wheat or mullet then mixed with herbs, spices and other ingredients. The first American known recipe for today’s familiar cornbread dressing dates back to 1836. From that point on, Southern cooks have owned it, making it the traditional family fare that is enjoyed on tables today.
Mrs. Mavis Sharp, 88-year-old LaSalle resident, knows how important cornbread dressing is on the Thanksgiving table. She shared that all her family loves her homemade dressing and that her secret is putting the eggs into the cornbread when she cooks it.
“I watched my aunt, who worked in the school cafeteria, make her dressing. She put her eggs in her cornbread and (like her) I put seven to eight eggs in my batter when I cook my cornbread,” she said revealing the secret to a fine dressing. “I beat it up real good then add my celery, onion, salt and pepper. I don’t ever use cooked eggs in my dressing.”
Mrs. Mavis went on to share that she is already planning her Thanksgiving meal which will include her cornbread dressing. She takes great joy in knowing that her family members also use her recipe when they make cornbread dressing. Family traditions are being carried forth.
The family of the late Alice Smith Bailey also carries on the tradition of the family recipe for cornbread dressing. This recipe was handed down from the family matriarch, Nettie Smith, whose famous dressing graced many a table at church and family meals.
Granddaughter, Laurie Bryan Hunt, has since taken up the recipe and will be cooking and serving it for the first time this Thanksgiving.
“Mawmaw’s dressing was always the crown jewel at the table for Thanksgiving. If you asked her, she would always say her dressing was a hit or miss,” Laurie remembered. “Now that’s she’s no longer with us, I’m hoping to carry on her Thanksgiving tradition…even though I know it will never be as good as hers.”
Like Mrs. Mavis’s and the Bryan family’s pans of dressing, a good cornbread dressing begins with the basic and necessary ingredient of golden pans of delicious cornbread and continues from there. The bread is crumbled and then mixed with a host of ingredients such as sauteed onions and celery, salt and other seasonings, eggs (cooked or raw) and finally saturated with a tasty broth from boiled chickens or wild game ducks.
For many home cooks, a special dressing pan, often one that is as old as the family recipe itself, is pulled from the kitchen cabinet to house the special celebratory dish. An aroma like no others fills the house infiltrating every crack and crevice and bringing the memories of holidays past into the thoughts and smells of anyone and everyone who steps inside.
The result is the perfect or imperfect pan of cornbread dressing that is the star dish on the holiday table and the intent of every person holding a fork and plate. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little too dry or somewhat over hydrated, families are being tied together with every bite. The sacred recipe is eaten, enjoyed, preserved, and handed down through tradition and taste to the next generation, who will carry it into their family times and celebrations.
Love and family are made up of times spent together and the upcoming holidays are certain to be filled with both. While cakes and pies abound, green bean casseroles appear out of nowhere and turkeys are baked, fried, sliced, and diced, cornbread dressing, in its simple state of authenticity and tradition, will pull friends and family together once again to share, converse and give thanks. Among those words of sincere gratitude will be appreciative hearts, mouths and tastebuds thanking the Good Lord for the unsurpassed bites and full stomachs of cornbread dressing.
Alice Ruth’s Cornbread Dressing:
Ingredients:
2 pones of cornbread cooked –crumbled or ground in food processor 6 onions finely chopped 3 stalks of celery finely diced 1 bunch of green onions chopped 8 raw eggs mixed 6-8 cans or cups of chicken broth ½ tsp of black pepper 2-3 tsp of salt 2-3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions:
Saute all vegetables together in olive oil. Set aside.
Mix salt and pepper into ground cornbread mix.
Add chicken broth to cornbread mix. Add sauteed vegetables to mix. Stir raw eggs into mix. (Optional) Allow to set overnight or 1-2 hours. Bake at 400 degrees uncovered for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and dressing pulls slightly from the sides of the pan.
