The Atlantic

Letters: ‘Biscuits in the American South Are Serious Business Y’all’

Readers consider the American biscuit—and other staples of regional cooking.
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Why Most of America Is Terrible at Making Biscuits

There’s a scientific reason no one outside of the South can make light and fluffy biscuits, Amanda Mull wrote in November. The secret to success, she showed, is White Lily flour—which is difficult to find north of Richmond, Virginia.


I’m not buying hard-to-get White Lily flour as the magic bullet for good biscuits. My mother in Kentucky made biscuits from scratch almost every morning for my father and she used plain old Gold Medal self-rising flour, shortening (usually Crisco), and milk, not buttermilk. The secret is in knowing the feel of the dough. Work the biscuit

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