Biscuit school
BY BELINDA ELLIS PHOTOS BY EAT INC

My southern grandmother thought biscuit making was something every young girl must learn how to do; she Taught my mother, who taught me. But what if you didn’t grow up with a southern mom intent on passing along biscuit making?

Then you need the popular (and always filled) Biscuit Class taught at A Southern Season CLASS (Culinary Lessons at A Southern Season) Cooking School. School director, Marilyn Markel, and store managerWillard Doxey show, tell, and let you get your hands in the mix, for two, tried and true methods for making biscuits. And as an extra incentive, at the end of the class, you’ll be served a southern style breakfast of ham and eggs, the best sausage gravy on the planet, pickled shrimp, grits and of course biscuits.

The class I observed began with dueling demos. Marilyn’s biscuits develop from extremely wet dough thatis “pinched” into biscuits and placed tightly in a cake pan, giving the biscuits a rise instead of spread. This method was the way of Marilyn’s grandmother.Willard on the other hand uses a very traditional method of cutting the dough into picture perfect rounds. Is one better than the other? Do you love one child more than the other? Both methods make first-rate biscuits that would make any grandmother proud.

The one thing the two biscuit makers agreed on right away was the most important ingredient for making a great biscuit—the soft southern-style flour. Soft wheat flour is milled from a variety of wheat that is lower in protein, and is the secret to a great biscuit. Marilyn swears byWhite Lily Flour. She added that Southern Biscuit Flour, milled in North Carolina and MarthaWhite Flour are also good choices, better than the national brands, which have too much gluten-forming protein to make a soft biscuit.

Back to class—working in pairs, the students took over the kitchen, carefully measuring, cutting in the fat and gently maneuvering the resulting dough into biscuits. Some tackled this job with gusto, many with trepidation. “Isn’t there some inherited magic to making biscuits?” they asked! A half hour later all the students had conquered the touch and absorbed the “magic.” The students looked like pros, spooning flour into measuring cups and patting dough, but there was plenty of laughter as they worked. Biscuit making is fun!Who knew? Marilyn noted that homemade biscuits only bake 15 minutes. Frozen biscuits bake much longer and, by the time they finish baking, you could have made them from scratch in the same amount of time.

The students were an interesting mix. Many were relocated folks trying to assimilate into southern foodways. A fair amount were young people, brought up in the fast food and microwave age and looking to re-connect with their roots or the traditions of cooking in general that passed them by as kids. Folks from around thecountry, young and old make this a class that is both lively and full of laughter. One student readily admitted that this was his second go round, not because he can’t make biscuits, but for the stomach popping full-fledged southern breakfast at the end of the class!

No matter why the students came, everyone made some great biscuits.When I asked how many would make these at home, they all enthusiastically said “yes” (although
a few pointed to their partners). Hopefully, on cold mornings this winter, their families will awaken to the wonderful aroma of baking biscuits.Who knows?

They may even teach their own kids!What about you? eP

You can find the class at…

A Southern Season
University Mall, 201 S. Estes Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919.929.7133; Fax: 919.942.9274;
or customerservice@southernseason.com

Belinda Ellis has been a recipe developer and baking instructor for southern flour companies for over 15 years, as well a freelance baking-industry consultant. She is the author of Sunday Best Baking and the editor of edible Piedmont. A transplant to Raleigh, she continues to be amazed by the local, sustainable food resources available here.