Classic Corn Bread Dressing

This recipe is a part of our Ever-Evolving Southern Thanksgiving package. See all the recipes here.

Ann Taylor Pittman, Birmingham, Alabama

I grew up in Mississippi with very traditional Southern Thanksgivings. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized my mom tried to have a very subtle influence — and when I say subtle, I mean subtle. The Thanksgiving meal always included wild rice pilaf. As a Korean woman, I think that was her way of making sure rice was on the table, but in a way that felt at home with traditional Thanksgiving food. 

My mother moved to Mississippi from Korea only knowing my father. To her, assimilation was very important and she wanted to raise her kids to be American. She didn’t push Korean food on any of us. She learned to cook Southern food, like biscuits and gravy — things that were so radically different than what she ate in Korea. I remember she would sometimes have her own little pot of kimchi soup bubbling on the stovetop, but none of us would eat it with her. It’s sad to think about it now.

I look just like my mother; I look Korean, but all through high school I thought I was passing for a white girl. My mom would tell me that when I was an adult, I’d appreciate that I was different. When you’re a kid, you’re incapable of seeing that. I just wanted to be white and have blonde hair like my friends. I didn’t want Korean kimchi soup cooking on the stove. But my mom was right. There came a time when I embraced both sides of who I am. In college, I started to read about Korean food and try to cook it, and that’s a process that continues today. 

But I’m also a Southerner, which I think is evidenced by the fact that the first thing I ever cooked was biscuits. I was 8 or 9 years old and I got up one morning and followed the directions on a bag of flour. The biscuits were awesome — maybe the best I’ve ever made. I still remember the sense of wonder in seeing flour turn into something so light and fluffy and buttery and indulgent. 

As a Southerner, I have very strong opinions about baked goods like biscuits and cornbread. I don’t like sugar in my cornbread, at all. I’m staunchly anti-sugar in cornbread. The reason I use whole-grain cornbread in my dressing isn’t to be super healthy — it’s about chasing flavor. Whole wheat is toasty and nutty; it really amplifies savory notes. I want my cornbread to taste of corn, butter, and a little tang from buttermilk. If someone brings cornbread dressing to Thanksgiving dinner and it’s made with sweetened cornbread, I can’t even look at it. It just doesn’t taste right.