IT'S a tricky business describing johnnycakes, the traditional Rhode Island cornmeal dish. The state is literally split down the middle on how to make them and how they should look.

There is the so-called Newport, or East Bay, style of cake (crisp and thin, about the size of a crepe) and the South County, or West Bay, style (smaller, thick and soft on the inside). Either way, it's safe to say that johnnycakes, which were first made by American Indians and later adapted by the Pilgrims and other early colonists, are synonymous with spring in Rhode Island. Every year since 1867, organizations throughout the state have sponsored May Breakfasts, which feature johnnycakes and other local specialties. Last year 35 May Breakfasts were held in sites from churches and Grange halls to bird sanctuaries and yacht clubs.

Johnnycake meal is made from white cap flint corn, originally a species of wild grass domesticated by American Indians, and notoriously difficult to grow and to grind. White cap can't be planted close to other varieties of corn because, unlike the sturdy, hybrid corns cultivated today, it reproduces by open pollination and mutates on contact with other strains. As if this weren't headache enough, white cap has a long growing season but usually ekes out only one ear (sometimes two) per stalk. Because of the low yield, kernels of white cap, also known as white flint, have been bred to grow around the ends of the cob, forming a small crown or cap, hence the name. The corn is deserving of the flint in its name as well; of all the varieties of corn, it is far and away the hardest.

For some reason, white cap flint corn is especially suited to the soil of Rhode Island. Though the folklore claims it only grows here, some is grown beyond the state's borders. However, only those ears raised in Rhode Island can be used for jonnycake meal, as purists insist on spelling it. The absence of the "h" is not to be taken lightly. A Rhode Island law enacted in the 1920's dictates that true jonnycake meal must be derived exclusively from white cap flint corn grown and stone ground in Rhode Island. Cornmeal pancakes made from anything else are merely johnnycakes. (This article, nevertheless, abides by the dictionary spelling.) With or without the "h," the name johnnycake probably derives from the fact that the cakes are compact and travelled well, earning them the name journey cakes, which evolved over the years into johnnycakes. The other theory, that the name refers to the Shawnee Indians (as in Shawnee cakes), seems to have fallen from favor.