National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

Biscuit history traces to early American colonial baking. English 'ship's biscuit' (hardtack) was common on Atlantic voyages. In the American South, by the late 1700s, the tall soft buttermilk biscuit had emerged, likely the confluence of (a) abundant dairy (buttermilk was a byproduct of churning butter), (b) the Southern soft-wheat flour produced in the Shenandoah Valley and Kentucky, and (c) the introduction of chemical leavening (baking soda from 1846; baking powder from 1864). By 1900, biscuits were standard Southern breakfast fare.

White Lily Flour, the iconic Southern soft-wheat flour, was founded in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1883 and became the defining biscuit flour across the South. Southern home cooks have passionate preferences; many insist that only White Lily makes proper biscuits. The difference is real: Southern soft wheat has ~9% protein vs. Northern hard wheat at 13-14%. Less protein means less gluten, which means more tender biscuits. A Midwestern home cook using Gold Medal or King Arthur All-Purpose will produce a noticeably denser biscuit than a Southern cook using White Lily.

Biscuits became a Southern cultural symbol as much as a breakfast food. The 'biscuit belt' runs from Virginia to Texas; every Southern state claims its own biscuit tradition. Biscuits and gravy (a Southern Appalachian dish, sausage gravy poured over split biscuits) is the quintessential American truck-stop breakfast. The biscuit chain industry, Hardee's, Bojangles, Biscuitville, Chick-fil-A, built national footprints on the strength of Southern-style biscuit sandwiches. From Lee Brothers to Sean Brock to Nathalie Dupree, serious American food writers have made the Southern biscuit a serious culinary focus.

The technique separates grandmother from machine:

Six regional biscuit variations: