A Controversial Type Of Cornbread Is King At This Landmark North Carolina Barbecue Joint

Cornbread is just what it sounds like: bread made from cornmeal rather than wheat flour. It's simple, sure, but few can deny the pleasures of sinking one's teeth into a sweet, crumbly piece of the stuff, whether served as a little square with your meal or cut from a skillet. You'd think there wouldn't be much room for controversy in the cornbread field, but Skylight Inn found a way. The North Carolina barbecue fixture serves a simpler, less sweet cornbread than most, which may or may not be to your taste — but at least they're doing it their own way. (If you'd rather just use the boxed stuff, here are sixteen ways you can upgrade Jiffy.)

Most modern cornbread you'll find is enriched, in order to get that fluffy, flaky texture. Not only may it include regular all-purpose flour alongside cornmeal, but it also incorporates sugar and eggs to create something sweet and almost cakey. At the Skylight Inn, however, they have cornbread made from cornmeal, water, salt, and, well, that's pretty much it. Those who are more familiar with the other kind of cornbread might be caught off guard, but there's something appealing about simplicity, too. The recipe was developed back in the days when self-rising wheat flour was hard to come by in rural North Carolina. It was a matter of making the best of what you had — and in this case, the best they had was more than good enough.

The same practical, no-nonsense approach that resulted in Skylight Inn's famous cornbread extends to just about every other aspect of the joint. You may have heard the phrase "going whole hog" before, which means, essentially, to go all out — and that's exactly what Skylight Inn does with its barbecue, figuratively and literally. Pitmaster Bruce Jones, son of Skylight Inn founder Pete, does, in fact, use the whole hog for his barbecue, although you won't be able to distinguish the different parts. Instead of offering ribs, burnt ends (like you'd find in Chicago-style BBQ), or any other specialized dishes, all you get is pulled pork, served on a sandwich or eaten by itself. Maybe you think it sounds plain, but if the Skylight Inn has been around this long, "plain" must taste pretty darn good.

There's more than just pork and cornbread, though — albeit not that much more. You can get smoked chicken, in either quarters or halves, and you have a few different sides to choose from, including slaw, baked beans, and the enduringly significant potato salad. And if you've got a real appetite for cornbread, you can get a whole 13x9-inch cake of the stuff for just four dollars. Even if the dense stuff isn't quite as sweet as you'd like, that's a tough deal to pass up. In the end, Skylight Inn proves that barbecue doesn't need bell sand whistles when it's done with this much care.