the hallowed object: the Southern biscuit
Sep. 3rd, 2004 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonI was pleased to see that Alton Brown devoted one of his shows to the the subtle art of Southern biscuit making. It was a treat because he had a "bake off" against his own grandmother, who, in true Southern grandmotherly fashion, didn't really measure, and has used the same baking pan, mixing bowl etc. for years!
I remember when I first begged my mom for her biscuit recipe, and she couldn't give it to me, because she never measured anything! She finally came up with a recipe (provided upon request), but I've never been able to make mine as good as hers. I'm guessing this is the sort of thing that is really best learned from your mom or grandma, and not from a book.
AB demonstrated some cooking tips that might help (use aluminum pans, as dark/teflon pans can burn the bottom of biscuits; use the right kind of flour), but it almost feels like a betrayl to consider following his recipe to the letter - you just don't blithely choose someone else's biscuit recipe over that of your own mother unless you've tried absolutely everything to get mama's recipe to work! :P
Got me craving biscuits now, though.
I remember when I first begged my mom for her biscuit recipe, and she couldn't give it to me, because she never measured anything! She finally came up with a recipe (provided upon request), but I've never been able to make mine as good as hers. I'm guessing this is the sort of thing that is really best learned from your mom or grandma, and not from a book.
AB demonstrated some cooking tips that might help (use aluminum pans, as dark/teflon pans can burn the bottom of biscuits; use the right kind of flour), but it almost feels like a betrayl to consider following his recipe to the letter - you just don't blithely choose someone else's biscuit recipe over that of your own mother unless you've tried absolutely everything to get mama's recipe to work! :P
Got me craving biscuits now, though.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-04 05:33 pm (UTC)I'd also hate to point out how many industrial chemists follow this same approach. Think Scotty in the engine room. "Oh, sure that reactor can take a bit more. Up the feed rate on the MIC (methyl isocyanate) by 100kg/hr, and bump the temperature up another 7 degrees C. She'll hold together." Of course every now and then it doesn't. "Oops." A ChemE I used to know said it's not a matter of "if" you'll launch a column, it's a matter of "how often".
Ok, just kidding on that last paragraph. I hope!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-05 03:31 pm (UTC)You ARE aware you are Dave Lister incarnate, right? Check out the polymorph episode, where he makes "Shami Kebab Diablo" :P
no subject
Date: 2004-09-06 01:27 pm (UTC)