Jewish Rye “Cornbread”

Can anyone point me to a bakery in Brooklyn or Manhattan that makes a type of dense Jewish rye bread we used to call “cornbread”? (It’s nothing like southern style cornbread.) I posted the question to Chowhound's Kosher board a few days ago, and got some suggestions (thank you!), but it occurred to me that there may be some hounds who know what I'm looking for but don't frequent the Kosher board. Note that it doesn't matter if it's actually "Kosher" in the strict sense of the word.

Many thanks!

[jamesgelman]

Michele's in Fort lee made it until 2 weeks ago wheb they closed. Try zaydee;s in fair lawn , but I'm looking myself.

[barbgail61]

I believe that Rockland Bakery, in Nanuet, which is located in Rockland County, makes Korn bread. I have seen "round, large ryes", which in my childhood, was always Korn bread. Pakula's bakery in Spring Valley used to make terrific, dense, sour Korn breads. They were huge, the clerk had to cut them in half, and then slice half for the customers. No one bought an entire bread. They must've weighed several pounds. But sadly Pakula's is long gone. The old Ramapo Bakery, also in Spring Valley, made them but I'm going back 40 years! But the Ramapo Bakery ended up becoming the Rockland Bakery, and I believe it's the same recipe that's made today. Check it out, and while you're at it, put on a plastic glove and grab a bag, and go in the back and help yourself to their other bread, rolls & bagels - you can't go wrong at Rockland Bakery!

-----
Rockland Bakery
94 Demarest Mill Rd W, Nanuet, NY 10954

[laura10952]

Rockland Bakery does NOT make Kornbread!

I think if they saw rhe demand then they would.

[iraperelson]

Teena's Cake Fair is an old-style Jewish bakery in East Flatbush, which was formerly a Jewish neighborhood (today it is mostly West Indian). Miraculously, they continue to make the same type of baked goods they made years ago augmented by newer cakes that appeal to the changing tastes of the neighborhood. Excellent corn bread. Chewy and dense with a great crust. Call before visiting to make sure there are still some available. Best to go early (AM). They also make good pumpernickel and rye breads in addition to old-style Jewish pastries.

I think that moishes bakery on 2nd ave. (10th) st.? is still around and they had very good corn bread I used to buy.

[jnk]

We've been talking about corn bread for quite some time here at work, and thought we had stumbled upon it (or at least what we remembered it to be fron Butterflake bakery inTeaneck. What we got was a huge loaf of bread, very heavy with a shiny light brown crust. When we tried to cut through it (very difficult), it had a decent taste, but we needed a hacksaw to get through the 1st 2 inches of it. This is not the cron bread that we remember from years ago. One of us is from NJ and other from NY and we remember the same bread. It was round (rye was long), it had a brown crust, it was relatively soft in the middle with cornmeal (Ithink) on the bottom of the loaf. I even remember the little paper stamp that was on the loaf. Anyone else have a recollection of this bread, and know if there is anywhere in NY/NJ that we can get this. THanks

[thew]

i loved that bread as a kid

From a Calif. hound: several years after I moved from Brooklyn to LA, my folks came to visit and we went out to a local chain restaurant (Marie Callendars). My dad ordered something or other, and the waitress asked if he wanted cornbread with his meal. "Real cornbread?" Dad asked. Yes, Dad, "real" cornbread. Well the cornbread came, and it was the Southern-style, not NY/Jewish style. I barely remembered the original rye/cornbread and that lead to a heated discussion as to what "real" cornbread really was. Boy was he disappointed!

I now live in the Bay Area, and there are very few, if any, places to get NY/Jewish style rye/cornbread.

i remember that bread very well. when i was a kid in bensonhurst there was a jewish bakery called gail's that made the most delicous "cornbread". the closest i've found is a jewish rye bread from zingermans.com. their breads are staggeringly good...check them out and try some, you will be very happily surprised!

If you find yourself on Long Island, go to Wall's Bakery in Hewlett. Excellent kornbread, rye bread, raisin pumpernickel and all the rest...Jewish carbohydrate heaven!!!!

Kornbread differs from rye bread to me in that it seems a bit more "sour" and dense, as you say.

I like "Gertel's" on the lower east side...terrific breads, you can get Cornbread with or without "seeds".

I think a "cornbread" is included in the Silver Bell line of Lithuanian ryes sold loose around NYC, so you might look out for these. Also take a look at the stores, Zabars, etc. that accumulate the best breads from all over -thats also a likely source.

I believe that Orwasher's on East 78th Street carries it. Good, old-fashioned Jewish rye.

Link: http://www.orwashers.com/products.nxg

Absolutely, Orwasher's is the real deal when it comes to Jewish cornbread. You need hot, strong coffee in order for it to soften enough to get down your throat. It is to die.

I think the phonetic "korn" is the rye grain - not maize or corn as in American corn, so you just want to ask for a very dense rye. I have vauge childhood recollection of calling rye bread "kornbread".

I'm sure that if you posted this on the Kosher Board that they mention Ostrovitsky's Haemishe Bakery on Ave. J (just two blocks from DiFara's if you are not kosher). They have the best Jewish style breads in NYC.