Gravy Queen-- In the Southern US savory baked biscuits are often served at breakfast instead of toast. Or at dinner with butter and jam or honey,especially "Sunday Dinners" with fried chicken. Biscuits make a terrific Ham Sandwich. These are associated as more Southern in orientation or possible origin. Biscuits and gravy is either a side dish, along with eggs and fried potatoes and more, or as a main dish. Interestingly, in the South it is not a big thing, and in general, restaurant charges are minimal, in the $3-4 US range. The farther north you get, it increases in value somehow, and Here, a plate of biscuits and gravy runs about $9-10 US per serving. Also, the farther north you get, biscuit recipes Suffer. If you make scones, you know the difference between light feathery layers on the tongue vs heavy as a brick. It takes a deft touch to make good biscuits.
Now, as far as the gravy part goes-- here's a comparitive recipe. It's not for the faint of heart but will get your motor going in the morning if you have a big day ahead of you. This one uses both bacon drippings and I didn't look farther, but when I make sausage gravy, I do not remove the cooking fat after the sausage is cooked and crumbled. That is the oil part that gives the gravy its good flavor.
Biscuits with Sausage and Sage Gravy - Pinch My Salt
Maybe I'm just lucky, but my mother made great biscuits, as do I. I grew up in, and still live in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, about as far North as you can get in the continental U.S. Great biscuits aren't unusual up here. And I've had many a breakfast of biscuits and gravy that would rival anything in the South. We also make a very light and delicious dumpling from biscuit dough.
Yes, I have had hockey pucks that looked like biscuits before. But they were the exception, not the rule (or is that biscuits that feel like hockey pucks, hmmmm.).
Just as there are people who make outstanding French food in, say, New York City, there are people who make the same here. What we really lack around here is Tex/Mex, and authentic Mexican food experience. And though I make a mean taco, Carne Asada, Shredded Beef, and several other foods of that genre, I am merely a beginner compared to many who live in the Southwest.
Great food of any type can be attained by anyone willing to put in the time and work to learn how to properly make that food. Of course there are regional variants to the food we eat, based on available ingredients, what we are used to eating, climate, and other factors. But in my opinion, one should learn as many techniques, and styles of cooking as possible. It makes life richer, and gives you many more options to create good food for yourself, and those you love, or want to serve to.
Ok, I'm done now. I just have a thing about stereotypes.
I believe that anyone with a knack for cooking, no matter where they live, can make something as good, as someone from another geographic region. I don't like the whole South verses North thing, or East verses West. There are great cooks all over the place, who can make great biscuits in the North, and great baked beans in the South. Many think you have to be Southern to make the best ribs. It's just not true. Just ask anyone who's eaten my ribs. And I've had some pretty good ribs in California, and in Maryland as well. Regional is all in the mind, again, my opinion.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
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