/ by Stephanie Burnette
/ photograph by Chelsey Ashford
Southern cooking has long been associated with breads like biscuits and cornbread, but somewhere in between lies a souffle-like dish, called spoon bread, a mixture of corn meal, eggs and butter. Though most would consider it southern, its roots are more likely Native American.
In Greenville, spoon bread was served at the Poinsett Hotel in the 1940s, as a way to welcome guests by serving a dish tableside with a large spoon. It was made by Lucille Benson Tumlin who worked as a cook in the kitchens of the hotel.
This is a photo of the original typed card of the Poinsett Hotel’s spoon bread, notable because it attributes the recipe specifically to Tumlin’s hand, a black female employee. A photo exists of Tumlin at the Poinsett Hotel too, in what could be called a costumed uniform of sorts (she has on both a long ruffled skirt and a headscarf). She’s serving three men seated at a table in the dining room. It is a time of accepted segregation and the image looks staged, which it likely could be a publicity photo. It is remarkable that it exists; it is also remarkable that the dish is made to this day at the same establishment and celebrated, 80 years later.
When the Poinsett Hotel reopened in 2000, under the management of Westin Hotels, the restaurant was named “Spoonbread” in honor of southern cuisine and the hospitality it references, including the dish made by Miss Lucille Benson Tumlin. It is a recipe that Greenville considers its own. And, we hope you will add it to your family’s recipe box too.
