I certainly am not confused about this simple quick bread.

This channel makes me feel like everything is going to be just fine

Cayenne in pancakes. I'm telling you, Chef John over at Food Wishes needs to see this.

My grandmother made these all the time. We ate them with sharp cheddar cheese. They were great!

My mamaw made these every morning with her cast-iron skillet on a little wood heating stove that had enough room to cook on. She lived like she grew up and liked it that way.

This lady is a natural on camera. Wonderful woman!

If you don't like the gritty texture of corn meal I found something out when I made corn meal pancakes from one of Jon's previous recipes. When I made them they had the gritty texture typical of corn bread and corn meal. I left the leftover batter in the fridge and the next day I made some more and they were a lot smoother. It seems the corn meal must soak a long time to soften up. This may be why they used warm or hot water, to try and soften the corn meal.

I grew up eating Hoe cakes. Still a staple in the Appalachians.

Been watching your videos in Scotland since I started with Turn WS. Thank you for showing what life was like in the 18th Century American colonies. Your videos should be used in history classes. Thank you from Chris.

Somebody give this man a TV show. I would actually DVR this.

I ate these growing up, but we called it hot water cornbread.

The actual source for hoecakes is the native ash-cake! Natives have been making these for thousands of years! I grew up on these and still make them today, I like to cook them in bacon grease. This time of year the blackberries are starting to ripen here in Virginia, its nice to pick some fresh in the morning and mix them in the corn.

Another awesome video. I don't know if there's a nicer gentleman on earth as you, John! Thanks for keeping interesting videos coming. Andy

When I was a young lad in Connecticut my dad would take me to one of the nearby Mills and get stone ground white corn flour. Mom would pour som in a bowl and add boiling water, the thick batter would make cakes at least a half inch thick. Served with butter and sorghum molasses. Great on a cold morning., I still make at times.

Just made these in 3 min. Had some cornmeal on hand and used paprika, vegetable oil and butter (no lard on hand). 1/2 cup of cornmeal and eyeballed the water and made 3 cakes. With honey and a cup of coffee, and I felt transported back to 1790’s!

Lard melting in a cast iron pan. It's the simple things. Thank you for these wonderful videos.

How could this be an 18th century recipe if it doesn't have my boy nutmeg?

Needs a big ol' ladle of pinto beans over those .....

Her bonnet is supreme.

This is great! My grandfather, before he passed, used to make these __every__ time we came over to visit him and my grandmother. I was almost drooling watching this video! lol I still make these from time to time. I've never had them with the cayenne, but I bet my grandfather would have loved that addition; one of his favorite things to eat with fresh peas was a cayenne pepper relish that he made.

I love how this lady has such a genuine and happy energy. And Townsends delivers a nice video as always. As a Gourmet chef by schooling that just cooks as a hobby now, its nice to see the root of many current day foods and tastes.

Ever since the parmesan ice cream episode, the comment section has gotten a lot weirder.

Im going to try this next time I go camping. Seems like good camp food.

Mt dad's family used the same ingredients but in larger quantities that filled the whole skillet and slowly baked the cake in an oven. Their topping was cane syrup.

Those would taste good with a modern day chili, too. You could even use them to scoop the chili if they were dense enough!

i ate things like this all the time, growing up poor in southwest virginia. regular pepper, though not cyan. i still eat it from time to time. goes great with soup beans.

My exchange program was in Mount Vernon. What a beautiful view. What a bunch of kind memories. Thank you very much for this series.

awe the memories of growing up in the country old fashion hoecakes and cornmeal mush yet still today cornbread is still favorite bread. great video thanks for sharing.

Slathered with rich creamery butter and drizzled with Vermont maple syrup

Probably frying them in lard imparted a lot of flavour to them.

My mother made Hoe Cakes, but they were basically Bannock Bread. She made it with Bisquick, salt and whole milk. It was light and airy, white in color and cooked in a large cast iron skillet. My best representation is 1.5C of Bisquick, one TSP of salt and one cup of milk. My mother loved quick and easy and she was a Scottish lass. Her hoe cake is what I call a nicely formed and tight loaf, about 3/4 of an inch thick. I cook mine five minutes per side over medium heat and about nine inches in diameter.

On a serious note: I grew up in Mexico, and home made tortillas are made with corn dough only, no salts or even oils to cook...if you want to call lime (calcium oxide) an ingredient, it's used to cook the corn, and sometimes to fix the sourness of the dough if it needs it. So the simplicity is understandable, I'm sure the settlers got the ideas from Natives.

Johnnycakes are the New England equivalent of tortillas, as they are a cornmeal flat bread. The simplest recipes call for nothing but cornmeal, boiling water, and a little salt. The batter should be fairly thin so that when fried on a hot griddle, the batter is no more than a quarter of an inch thick. Rhode Islanders take their johnnycakes so seriously that they hold baking and eating contests every year. In Rhode Island, traditionally, the cake is made only from fine white corn that has been ground by a water process Johnnycake History: Johnnycakes, johnny cakes, jonnycake, ashcake, battercake, corn cake, cornpone, hoecake, hoe cake, journey cake, mush bread, pone, Shawnee cake, jonakin, and jonikin. These are all regional names for this cornmeal flatbread. The origin of the name johnnycakes (jonnycakes) is something of a mystery and probably has nothing to do with the name John. They were also called journey cakes because they could be carried on long trips in saddlebags and baked along the way. Some historians think that they were originally called Shawnee cakes and that the colonists slurred the words, pronouncing it as johnnycakes. Historians also think that “janiken,” an American Indian word meant “corn cake,” could possibly be the origin. The settlers of New England learned how to make johnnycakes from the local Pawtuxet Indians, who showed the starving Pilgrims how to grind and use corn for eating. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, most of their wheat brought from England had spoiled on the long voyage. It is said that Myles Standish (1584-1656), the military leader of the Plymouth Colony, discovered a cache of corn stored by the Indians. An Indian named Tisquantum (1585-1622), also known as Squanto, was helpful in the settlers’ survival during the winter of 1621. Tisquantum was one of five Indians taken to England in 1605 by Captain John Weymouth, who was employed by Sir Ferinando Gorges of the Plymouth Company and set out to discover the Northwest Passage. In 1614, Tisquantum was brought back to American, assisting some of Gorges’ men in mapping the New England coast. Tisquantum lived out the rest of his life in the Plymouth Colony teaching the settlers how to grow corn, pound corn into meal, and how to cook with it. He also acted as interpreter and guide.

Thanks! I want to make them for camping which makes it difficult to bring eggs, just a simple warm way to start the morning or bring along on a hike. Thanks for the additional historical information.

I think a lot of the 'yum' comes from the lard!

Love how she wants him to be kind. I’m like, “lady, this man will happily eat almost anything from history!” Lol ☺️ Great video 👏🏻

I am surprised at the cayenne pepper that seemed to be so common in those times. After doing some research I found that it was one of the most common of spices along with lemon peel, Caribbean pepper (all spice), clove, and salt. Practically everything was hot!

One of George Washington's favorite dishes was hoecakes with honey, and I can attest to its deliciousness.

I love John's personality it warms me after a long day in this sometimes crazy world.

>When she asks what's for breakfast

We still make these today, except we just call it hot water cornbread!

Yum! If made with MASA, and a little thinner batter, you can almost get a tortilla like cake. I make them from plain old cornmeal. Did not know they were made at Mt. Vernon! Thank you James for such fantastic videos! These videos are real history! Thankz

I love hoe cakes! Way better than pancakes, imo. Hoe cakes with honey and bacon is probably my favorite breakfast.

My mom would fry leftover corn mush in the griddle for supper; it was quite a treat.

First time I've heard about hoecakes since "Boil them cabbage down, down. Turn them hoecakes 'round, 'round. The only song that I can sing is Boil them cabbage down"

Debra has the most ''merry' eyes! I've enjoyed her food and style so much and thank you Jon for you and your team with this great history work you are doing for us.

We've been eating these for years, they took the place of hushpuppies when we had fish fries. Wonderful stuff!

I love simple foods like this. This channel is perfect for food on a budget.

thanks John, lovely video! I like the speed/pacing of your videos, really well suited for your topics!

What a great morning food to make and take in early morns for outdoors whether hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing or whatever the like. Really enoyed this video. And of course George Washington is my very favorite president followed closely by Thomas Jefferson then Abraham Lincoln. I will go watch the other videos. Good video. Thank You for sharing. Thumbs up!

Very excited to try these! I made your crumpets for my class of 12 Japanese students and they LOVED them and were fascinated when I told them how old the recipe was. I get the feeling these will be another hit! Thank you for enabling me to spark an interest in history in my students, it's a priceless gift.

I love this type of recipes, easy affordable and delicious 😋

@Townsends -- Hey, what about "leather britches," a style of string beans / green beans, I think dried and then reconstituted, or else fresh and reduced. My dad was not sure on how these were made, but remembered how good they were. (He said green beans allowed to cook or roast down when doing a Sunday roast beef, in the drippings of beef juice and salt and seasonings were close to what he knew.) -- Or how about potato pancakes? Or real cider or taffy or...so many early recipes would be worth exploring.)

Shoutouts to mah man MF DOOM

My mom used to make these all the time with the peppers. We would eat them with soup beans and fried potatoes whenever she wanted to make something different than regular cornbread and they're so easy to make.

Wow! I've tried to cook those crumpets yesterday. Oh sweet God, this is the same taste like pancakes my grandma were cooking to Christmas Eve more than 30 years ago ... Thank you very much indeed, Mr Townsend! Greetings from Ukraine :)

When I was younger, my mom would make hoe cake in the cast iron pan. Or should I say I would make it after my dad got sick. We still have the pan that cake was made and it's been passed to me. And it makes awesome bacon.

They are forgetting the flavor coming fro the lard, too. That adds not only taste but 'mouth feel' crunch and oil. My mother used to put these on top of a huge batch of collard greens and they would fluff up nicely and suck up the juices from the greens. Heaven.

The history behind the food culture is fascinating! I love these authentic "connected" recipes. Thank you John Townsend. I love your series. Making these next!

My granny always used some garlic in hers. She was a master ! And her cracklin bread was amazing too

1:28 something's going on in the background

That lady is so cool and calm, even making cakes over an open fire in a giant flamable dress. Respect

I am so thankful for your videos. They genuinely bring me a lot of happiness to watch and enjoy.

Love your channel. Refreshing to see nice folks sharing knowledge. Thank you!

I appreciate that she's not leaving the slaves out of history on this one

We used to get these storebought when I was little, but they're much better homemade with buttered honey drizzle instead of maple syrup. They store well in the fridge and are a great toaster waffle substitute!

Made these this morning and they're wonderful! Did add some cinnamon and they needed a little more salt but with maple syrup, they were sublime! Thank you, Jon, for sharing these historic recipes with the world!

Love the videos, thanks for making them. Great presentation of history that goes too often unmentioned. gives a great feel for the day to day they had.

She reminds me of the mom from step brothers.

Brilliant work! Keep it up!

John, thank you for all the great shows and information. I have really found a great channel! Keep up your great work.

I am loving this series at Mount Vernon! Thank you Jon and Co.

May as well call it Jas Townsend and Son And Friends. :)

She is beautiful, I love her laugh 😊

I love the history that includes details like “cayenne pepper was plentiful so they used it.” I grew up in WVa, I like savory cornbreads instead of sweet ones.

You literally seem to be the defenition of a nice & kind person :) have been binge watching your videos all day haha, I love to learn everything about history!

When pressed for time and especially if I'm on the move I can make a meal out of tortillas. Nothing else. Bread, by itself fills you up and requires nothing but fingers and teeth (optional).

I've been eating them for years, Mexican American. Gorditas or sopes, they're amazing depending on what you put on top.

This channel is most enjoyable to watch. Thank you for being awesome!

It's weird how this is one of my favourite channels. I've had basically no interest in 18th century America, or in cooking. But its just so damn wholesome. I love it.

Could these be made with beer or buttermilk? I seem to remember my Grandma using beer, or buttermilk ( depending on what was available at) with a bit of onion and cracklings

Washingtons cash crop was wheat?!? That blew my mind, I figured Virgina's heart and soul was tabacco.

Thank you so much for making this video! My daughter is studying this era in history right now and she has a project to make this little cakes. This really gave her some more knowledge behind the cakes than what her lesson gave her for school. Great video!! Thank you!

Thank you for another great video Jon. In my cookbook studies, I've seen many, many recipes like this from pretty much all over America it seems. I believe corn was much more common than wheat? Or perhaps only cheaper? But it seems from Maine to the Appalachian Mountains and beyond there were different forms of this recipe. I find it remarkable how such a few common ingredients could produce so many forms of nutritious and palatable food. We have lost a lot of that simplicity today.

This is one of my favorite MF Doom songs XD

I have to say, Jon Townsend, You are seem like just such a kind man, and Thank you for your series, I am really fascinated and grateful. I had forgotten alot of history, but I love learning about all of this, and being brought into it, not just your recipes but everything, its amazing, truly, I can't wait to learn more! - Deb Crawford

Interesting simple food, and you should bring Deb on the show more often. Thumb up.

I love hoe cakes. I grew up eating them at my great-grandmother's house. She would make them with some homemade chocolate to put on top. You could also use syrup. In this part of SC hoe cakes are very similar to fritters. I'm afraid they are becoming extinct due to nobody learning how to make them.

I finally found the perfect dish for my ex!

I've made cakes like this before, but just a little stiffer dough. Absolutely excellent.

Grew up eating and cooking these regularly. Still do, one of my favorites. Wondeful videos

so is this what those rappers are rappin about in their songs?

Grew up on these! Grandma always made them with a pot of beans. We put honey on them sometimes.

Flexible quantities are one of my favorite things about cooking period recipes! It's helped me develop some considerable skill as a cook because I learned to think about cooking by feel. You're more involved in the process when you're trying to get just the right amount to get the flavor or consistency you want and not paying too much attention to your measuring cups.

"*insert MF DOOM quote*"

Good video! Keep it up!

Again, you make historical cookery accessible and enjoyable. And I note with pleasure the return of your verve sir, that is most reassuring.

We love them, have been making these for years! Simple hearty and a different choice than most are used to. So glad to see this video! Maybe more will try this. The variations are limited to your palate.

man I love me some cornmeal pancakes. they're appropriately good with corn syrup, but I see that stuff wasn't invented until the early 19th century. I suppose more likely they'd have put molasses on there if they felt like a sweet breakfast.

SUPA!