What American cornmeal flatbread is also called journey cake or hoecake?

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What American cornmeal flatbread is also called journey cake or hoecake? Johnnycake.

Johnnycake is an American cornmeal flatbread also known as journey cake and, in many contexts, hoecake. It is an early North American staple made primarily from cornmeal, salt, and water or milk, then cooked on a griddle, skillet, or other hot surface.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas developed corn-based cooking traditions that influenced European settlers, and johnnycake spread along the Atlantic coast from New England through the Caribbean. In the United States, Rhode Island is particularly associated with the modern New England version, while “hoecake” is strongly linked with Southern cooking.

The names are not always perfectly interchangeable historically. “Journey cake” is often explained as a portable food for travelers, while “hoecake” refers to a cooking surface or iron pan called a hoe; the popular story that cakes were routinely cooked directly on gardening hoes is disputed. Johnnycake is also distinct from hushpuppies, which are usually small fried cornmeal fritters.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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