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If I want a cookie, I ask for a biscuit.
What do I ask for if I want a biscuit?
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There is no biscuit. Try a scone?
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biscuit 'n gravy?
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The next flight out! But if you've a mind to stay awhile, the previously suggested scone is kind of similar. Better with cream than gravy though. |
Biscuits.
As a matter of interest, has anyone ever asked for "a biscuit", in Passepartout's sense? In the handful of places (like The Texas Embassy) that sell them, complete with that gunk you call gravy, you've no need to worry they'll misunderstand you and serve you something edible instead. Though rarely has the thought of a nice Rich Tea or a Chocolate HobNob been so pleasant |
You could try asking for a <i>bikkie</i>
Or do what Wallace does and ask for Cheese! |
This reminds me of when we flew to Houston Airport and saw a fast food shop called Chicken & Biscuits (something like that anyway). We were most interested to see what these biscuits were, as it sounded vile. A little further on into the holiday we got the aforementioned item in a restaurant in Natchez. They were like an unsweetened scone that we got with our dinner. Not the most pleasant eating experience I've ever had.
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Charley -
Biscuits are a staple of the southern United States, right up there with grits and collard greens (neither of which I can stomach personally). A good southern made biscuit can be heavenly, but if you're expecting it to be sweet like a scone, well, I can see how you'd be disappointed. I have an English friend that is perplexed to this day about American biscuits - maybe she hasn't had a good one. |
I think we had grits when we were in Memphis. We had a scone type thing for breakfast with a thick gooey stodgy sauce, is this what it is? I tried it, but to be honest it didn't have much taste and I didn't repeat the experience!
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We were ambushed by a motel breakfast on our first foray into South Carolina. I'd boned up on American usages before our trip, but somehow hadn't cottoned on to the "biscuit" thing. I was set straight by the nice lady in charge of the buffet, who explained "Well, them's biscuits, and them's sausages, and that's sausage gravy, and that's grits. And them's eggs, and that's bacon, and..." I'd figured out the bacon and eggsm, but listened politely anyway.
I was intrigued by the sausage gravy, which I found to be a sort of glutinous white sauce, the sort of stuff my old mum used to put on cauliflower, and was wondering how to attack the repast in front of me when another diner, a serious cardiac risk, marched up for seconds, or maybe thirds. He ignored the sausages, bacon etc. and tonged half a dozen biscuits onto his plate, then smothered them with several ladlefuls of this gravy. Inspired by his example (and over my alarmed wife's protests) tried everything - including the grits, which I found not at all gritty, and in fact a great improvement on oatmeal porridge, which I've always loathed even more than parsnips. Unfortunately nobody offered us collard greens anywhere in the South, so I suppose we were eating in the wrong places. Another time, maybe. |
Biscuits are a staple breadstuff throughout the US, not just the South.
I've been toying with the idea of writing a biscuit cookbook for some years, but I think I would rather eat them. It's unfortunate that you folks have had to slog through badly made biscuits and commercial cream gravies. If you get the chance, try breakfast at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant. The Sunrise Sampler is my Lady Wife's favorite. I just have the biscuits. ((I)) |
Nothing better than a biscuit for sopping up sorghum syrup or load it up with jams and jellies.
If you are ever in Atlanta and want biscuits so light they fly, check out the Flying Biscuit. http://www.flyingbiscuit.com/press.html |
Sorry to disagree - but biscuits are a distinctly southern thing. When was the last time you say one in New York - or San Francisco - except in a soul food restaurant?
Although we do have lots of scones - not bad ones in the supermarkets and a couple of local bakeries that make really great ones. With raisins is my favorite. |
As a southerner living in the West Indies, I once asked a local friend over for a nice, southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy.
His reply? "No thank you. I don't eat sweets." :D |
Doesn’t Kentucky Fried Chicken sell biscuits? I thought I saw a few KFCs in Paris and London.
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KFC does not sell biscuits in the UK.
Never seen one anywhere. Would like to try one but I think, from the description, it is one of those things you have to grow up with to love! |
Just curious, are the breakfast biscuits and gravy common in the south the bread-like biscuits with a meat gravy poured over them?
Generally, when I think of "biscuits" (for humans), I think of the fairly hard, dry, not-too-sweet cookies that are made by baking twice, as the name indicates. Their shape shows that they were sliced from a loaf-like thing after the first cooking, I think. I'm not a baker, so I've never made any. Examples: anise bicuits, hazelnut biscuits. My dogs have always known dog biscuits by the word "cookies." How they have asked for a biscuit, a.k.a. "cookie," has been by sitting very properly, pointing their nose to a box of biscuits on top of the refrigerator or to the closed door of a cabinet where it's hidden, and looking very longingly at the spot, and then at me, then at the spot, then at me, until the desired result occurs. |
Scones aren't biscuits.
It's not the sugar: cheese scones would be inedible with sugar. But biscuits have a harsher, more soda-ey taste and fall apart in a crumbier way. Which is why they work with what you (or should it be y'all?) call gravy. A quick check in the Flanner Family Fanny Farmer explains why. The baking soda:flour ratio is extraordinarily high by our standards. So they can't maintain that near-solidity that's essential to a decent scone. Scones - sweet or savoury - are designed to accommodate lashings of melting butter, but still remain intact as your hand takes them to your mouth. Biscuits + gravy, OTOH, with characteristic American over-delicacy, need a fork to be eaten. |
Some of you Brits try this and tell us what you think!
Mme. Robespierre's "Buttermilk Biscuits": C = cup t = teaspoon Sift together 2 C flour 2¼ t baking powder ¼ t baking soda 1 t salt Cut in 1/3 C + 2 t shortening Stir in ¾ C buttermilk Knead a few times on a floured board Cut into 2-2½" circles Bake at 450° for 18-20 minutes |
Biscuits are not just a Southern thing..
Yesterday at brunch in Portland Oregon, there were eggs and biscuits on the menu. Also biscuits and gravy. I prefer scones :) Anyone have a recipe? |
>... biscuits are a distinctly southern thing. When was the last time you say one in New York - or San Francisco -..<
Ummmmmmm, there is more to the USA than NYC and SF. I have had very good biscuits in Seattle, WA; Midland, Mi; Normal,Il; Boston, Ma and Rochester, NY as well as all over the South. Biscuits aren't always crumbly. They aren't always served with cream gravy. They are not scones. Proper scones should be made with oatmeal. ((I)) |
Well I grew up in Chicago with no Southern affiliations, and we had (American) biscuits all the time. They're simply individually portioned breads eaten as a side dish to a meal - also sometimes called rolls or dinner rolls. I make mine from the tube rather than from scratch.
Scones are much better however, and fortunately there's a British import store not far from me that sells them frozen, the authentic English type. Some American bakeries sell a tasteless lump of dough they call a scone but they are not real authentic British scones. I once read that the bread product sold in the U.S, called an "English muffin" is supposed to be the American version of the scone, and while I do like English muffins, other than the shape I find them to be nothing like scones at all. |
I think our English muffins are more similar to crumpets, shape-wise and texture-wise, than scones.
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ira, scones are not made with oatmeal.Oatcakes are made with oatmeal. Scones are made with flour, sugar, butter and milk.
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Yes, the "English Muffin" is a misnomer. As originally formulated, it was <i>le muffin anglé</i> (an <u>angled</u> muffin), but the Brits, in their imperial arrogance, heard this as <i>muffin Anglais</i>, so English Muffin it was.
As Britannia Ruled the Waves (including the "English" Channel) and the Sun Never Set on the British Empire at the time, the rest of the world had no choice but to comply. |
You can find biscuits w/gravy in just about every region of the USA if you look hard enough (big truck stop, Denny's, etc.) but I wouldn't call them a "staple breadstuff across the USA".
I can go months on end without seeing one or even thinking of them. I don't know anyone where I live that eats them regularly. Unless traveling through the South or Midwest, the most I see of them is the Pillsbury can variety in the refrigerated case at the supermarket. That said, a nice hot one -- split and slathered in butter and jam is good sometimes on a cold winter's morning while having tea. |
I've never seen biscuits with gravy for breakfast, but maybe that's because I almost never ever eat breakfast in restaurants. I was recently in the west, where I did go to breakfast. There were a variety of american-style breakfast foods, but I didn't notice anyone eating anything that looked like biscuits with gravy over them. I still can't picture what this gravy is. My notion of biscuits is, as described above, either (1) the twice-cooked dry cookies, or (2) small fluffy singkle-portion breads, usually buttered, or (3) dog treats.
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Yum...I love warm, buttery biscuits!
And I agree with the others; biscuits are certainly not only a southern thing. I did, in fact, have biscuits (with gravy, no less) at a restaurant in San Francisco and they were actually quite tasty. Most restaurants serving breakfast here in St. Louis have biscuits on the menu. And Ira, I agree...Cracker Barrel's biscuits are wonderful! flanneruk, not all biscuits are crumbly. I prefer mine soft and buttery, and slightly firm on the outside. The few that I've had that I would classify as "crumbly" were the free biscuits given for breakfast at cheaper hotels. Tracy |
Well the only place I've seen biscuits with gravy at breakfast is in Atlanta, And I would qualify St. Louis as southern. As for Cracker Barrel - have never heard of it.
I am aware of those Pillsbury frozen things in tubes - but those are some sort of dinner item - I guess for places where there are no bakeries to buy real rolls - and they are certainly nothing like a decent roll - which has some appropriate crunch to it. |
I beg to differ. I had to go to my freezer and dig out a bag of Pillsbury oven baked – Southern Style biscuits. This is not a frozen thing in a tube. They may not be the very best, but it comes close.
I am about ready to give up. Since I joined the forum I have been exposed to incredible feats in France, Italian delicacies to say nothing of crepe stands, macaroons, panforte. I have also been reminded of my former junk food diet that included peanut butter and jelly and now biscuits. I am seriously planning a solo trip that will entail my taking a very small 21 inch suitcase. I am thinking thin and light. You guys are not cooperating. |
Although both biscuits and scones have relatively simple ingredients, a skilled hand is required to make either of them well. I've had "authentic" British scones that were dense rock like formations with a 50 year digestive half life. Same for biscuits.
>... biscuits are a distinctly southern thing. When was the last time you say one in New York - or San Francisco -..< What a myopic view of the US and absolutely wrong. I had great biscuits last month in Denver, Boulder, Salt Lake City, and Albuquerque. |
Do those of you in Great Britain eat "creamed chipped beef"? Or, SOS?
And the twice baked thingies...biscotti perhaps? |
Yes, the twice-baked items are definitely biscotti and not biscuits (we just made a batch of chocolate hazelnut - very delicious.)
Biscuits are very different from dinner rolls. No yeast for one thing in a biscuit. I grew up outside of Philadelphia and never had biscuits and gravy, but most definitely had biscuits and butter and jam. My biscuits now are made from Bisquick baking mix. They're nothing like real biscuits but,again, with butter and jelly, I like them. |
A remarkable bisquit is part of the special (ie, near ceremonial) breakfast served at the Columbia River Gorge Hotel in Oregon.
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Hi Barbara,
Perhaps, I should have said "rolled oats"? See http://www.recipezaar.com/14892 which is almost identical to the recipe I was given by a Scottish lady many years ago. ((I)) |
Do the McDonald's restaurants in the UK sell Sausage Biscuit sandwiches for breakfast? It's a biscuit cut open with a sausage patty inside. The original Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich is made with and English Muffin, but they now have the biscuit option as well.
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nytraveler, you may think of St. Louis as southern, but most people who live here don't. St. Louis is very much a midwestern city.
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They had biscuits and gravy on the breakfast buffet at the La Quinta Inn in Salt Lake City. Is that southern? Also, IHOP has biscuits and gravy and I know they're not only southern.
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I spent about a year many moons ago living in NC in my grandmother's home. She didn't even measure her ingredients, just scooped some flour and baking soda and whatever else into a bowl, added some milk and made the most delicious biscuits I ever had. We never had gravy over them for breakfast that I recall. Then Hardees came to this small town, and all my aunts who lived there thought Hardees' sausage biscuits were most wonderful.
I am going to try Mrs. Robes' recipe, although I do not have a deft hand with biscuits or other flaky baked items. Lately, I have had my light and flakey biscuits straight from the freezer, delivered by our Schwan's Frozen Food man. (Even my scones, from the recipe in Taking Tea at the Savoy don't really rise, although they taste great!) |
ira,
I have never heard of scones with oatmeal in them..and I grew up in Scotland. Maybe it's a highland thing.To my knowledge though, they may call them scones, but they're a distant relation. Even the shape is wrong, they should be cut in rounds. |
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