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Johnny cake
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JANUARY 2008
Johnny cake
Try a slice of Bahamian comfort
While savouring Bahamian delicacies such as stew' fish or chicken souse, you will often be served a slice of warm, cake-like bread with your meal.
Known as johnny cake, this staple of the Bahamian diet has a hstory that goes back at least four centuries and undoubtedly many more. Indians in what is now New England taught the first colonists how to make a dense cornmeal bread. The batter was shaped into a flat cake that was baked or fried in a pan over an open ire. It's often noted that johnny cake helped the newcomers survive their first harsh winters in the New World.
This bread became a staple long before the days of planes, trains and automobiles. Back then, getting from A to B was often arduous. To sustai themselves on a long trip, travellers needed an easily transportable food, one that would last for the entire trip. Johnny cake was ideal for this purpose and thus it was originally called "journey" cake. There are, however, other theories. A logical oneis that the name is eponymous-named after a long-forgotten chap known as Johnny.
The original New England version, as prepared by several Indian tribes, does not sound particularly appetizing. It was a dry flat bread made with ground maize (rough corn),salt and water.
During and after the American War of Independence, British Empire Loyalists fled the United States for The Bahamas, bringing their slaves with them. And the slaves, in turn, brought johnny cake to the colony.
The institution of slavery egan fading into Bahamian history in 1838, but the johnny cake that helped slaves survive is still with us. However, it's no longer a spartan food for travellers but a refined cake-bread. Today, it's not uncommon that johnny cake incorporates perishable igredients such as eggs, milk and sugar.
A Bahamian favourite
"I've grown up with johnny cake all my life," says Connie Robertson. "That bread would always fill us-it would make a belly full."
Robertson, who owns and operates the Cricket Club near Fort harlotte on West Bay Street, along with her husband Chris, says johnny cake is a big favourite among her patrons.
"It's very popular," she says. "We serve it with our boil' fish, stew' fish, stew' conch and chicken souse." How you choose to eat johnny cae is up to you. However, Robertson recommends using it to soak up the leftovers of whatever meal it accompanies.
Johnny cake is served throughout The Bahamas so it's not uncommon to find a variety of distinctive tastes. "Different places and different isands have different recipes," confirms Robertson, adding that her johnny cake, served at the Cricket Club, is a standard, simple version which was passed on to her by a friend.
"She was a really nice lady from Eleuthera," Robertson recalls, adding that he used to watch her friend make johnny cake during her earlier days as a waitress.
Now, with her own restaurant, Robertson has continued with her friend's recipe, but with a personal tweak. "It's nice, especially if you add extra sugar-that's what I lie."
Comfort food
Looking at a typical menu in a Bahamian restaurant, you'll see such items as peas 'n rice, grouper fingers, fried chicken, macaroni 'n cheese, stew' fish and fried plantain. It's clear Bahamians do not shy away from carbs and calories. T them, food is all about comfort.
Growing up in The Bahamas, Robertson remembers that her family would have weekend gatherings that would always include johnny cake.
"When you get the whole family home and you'd smell the food cooking, especially the sew' fish ? my mother [would] go to the docks and get the fish and bring it home fresh. It was a Saturday tradition -you couldn't ask for anything more."
And always, of course, there were generous helpings of johnny cake to round out the festivities.
Robrtson says that preparing johnny cake is easy. Just follow this simple recipe, courtesy of the Cricket Club.
Johnny cake
11?2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 14-oz can condensed milk
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp vegetable oil
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Pou into a baker's pan and bake at 350ºF for 20 to 30 minutes or until the top is brown. Top crust with melted butter. Slice in wedges, serve warm and enjoy.
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