Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this this is
Speaker 1: a classic episode of the podcast. Today's episode goes into
Speaker 1: the historical and technical sides of how Southern style biscuits work.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum. Here, when you think of light,
Speaker 1: fluffy biscuits, you may think of the other traditional foods
Speaker 1: from the American South that they pair so well with
Speaker 1: fried chicken, gravy, and homemade jam. But biscuits like the
Speaker 1: ones we eat today in the United States are fairly
Speaker 1: modern culinary creations. Throughout much of history, biscuits weren't at
Speaker 1: the center of dreamy breakfasts or chicken dinners. They were hard, thin, durable, dry,
Speaker 1: and meant for survival. The word biscuit comes from the
Speaker 1: Latin word panis biscottis, which means twice baked, and so
Speaker 1: it's no coincidence that a biscuit was once similar to biscotti,
Speaker 1: the Italian cookies that actually are twice baked. Soldiers in
Speaker 1: ancient Rome received hard biscuits in their rations. They had
Speaker 1: no leavening agent or fat, so they lasted a long time.
Speaker 1: Hard biscuits of some type or the m R. E.
Speaker 1: S or meals ready to eat of military personnel four
Speaker 1: centuries and have been known by the names hard tack,
Speaker 1: ship's biscuit, sea biscuit, and pilot bread. Fast forward to
Speaker 1: the Antebellum South, biscuits were still tough and flat and
Speaker 1: typically were only eaten in wealthy homes. Most people living
Speaker 1: in the South at the time ate corn bread instead.
Speaker 1: That's because most mills in the South were great at
Speaker 1: grinding corn but not at processing wheat, so only the
Speaker 1: rich could afford flour, which often had to be shipped
Speaker 1: in from northern states. Beaten biscuits, which could be considered
Speaker 1: the precursor to the modern Southern biscuit, were only a
Speaker 1: little better than hard tack. They included fat like butter
Speaker 1: or lard, but still no leavening agent, so beaten biscuits
Speaker 1: remained flat and only slightly lighter because the dove required
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes of kneading or beating. It wasn't until several
Speaker 1: nineteenth century innovations came along that we got what's now
Speaker 1: recognized as a Southern biscuit. First, better flour mills, most
Speaker 1: of them in the Midwestern United States and increased wheat
Speaker 1: production dropped the price of flour enough that less than
Speaker 1: wealthy Southerners could also afford to buy flour. And the
Speaker 1: development of chemical leavening agents such as potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate,
Speaker 1: and sodium bicarbonate what we now call baking soda, helped
Speaker 1: biscuits reach new heights without yeast or beaten eggs. If
Speaker 1: you're going to bake your own fluffy, flaky biscuits at home,
Speaker 1: it's not hard, but a few details are important. Keep
Speaker 1: your butter cold, don't let it get too soft while
Speaker 1: you're working it into the flour. You want the butter
Speaker 1: to melt when the biscuits are cooking in the oven,
Speaker 1: because melting butter produces steam that will help the biscuits rise. Also,
Speaker 1: to make the most of the leavening power of your
Speaker 1: baking soda and baking powder, bake the biscuits as soon
Speaker 1: as you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Baking
Speaker 1: soda starts to work as soon as it's moist, and
Speaker 1: those biscuits will lose some height if you let the
Speaker 1: dough sit. Finally, use a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or
Speaker 1: a sharp knife to cut the biscuit dough, don ease
Speaker 1: a glass, and if you do use a cutter, don't
Speaker 1: twist it. Nice clean edges help the dough rise. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article The Light and Fluffy
Speaker 1: History of Southern Biscuits on how stuff works dot com,
Speaker 1: written by Sean Chavis, who accompanied this story with his
Speaker 1: own biscuit recipe. So go check that out if you're
Speaker 1: looking for one brain stuff. This production of Our Heart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com and
Speaker 1: it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
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