“When I was younger, my mom and grandmother taught me to make cornbread in a cast-iron skillet,” says Tandy Wilson, chef of City House in Nashville, Tennessee. “The skillet was always just a part of it—part of the method.” Growing up with a family of cast-iron enthusiasts and a cupboard packed with heirloom skillets, it’s no surprise that he carries that legacy into his professional career. “There was never a recipe they went by,” he says. “Down the road, what I realized I’d learned was a method. I learned to heat up the skillet in the oven with the grease. Then pour some of the hot grease back into the batter, and listen for the sizzle when you add the batter to the pan. And that, to me, is cuisine. Everyone’s recipe is going to be a little different, but the method is what ties them together.”