I did not know this. And I love homemade biscuits
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There used to be tremendous diversity in wheat ( and other grain) varieties grown in the US. Commercial production wants standardization so regional varieties lost their value as cash crops. Most towns had a local mill. Fortunately the interest in heirloom varieties is helping bring back, research and preserve some of these old grains.
Soft wheat does better in the south. The cooking evolved to take advantage of what they had!
You might find interesting:
https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/southern-grains/
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A 50/50 cake flour to AP flour mix presumably makes a good substitution along with salt and baking powder. I have never used white lily so I don’t know how close it comes to it.
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My mom is an avid baker and visits her good friend in alabama once a year- and brings back several bags of White Lily flour specifically for making biscuits (and the markup on amazon or shipping from elsewhere to CA is crazy)
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Cool article.
Does your mom fly with those bags of flour? Seems like that could raise some eyebrows. Lol
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I have flown with White Lily! From Alabama, North Carolina, and Atlanta , to California, especially right after some review I needed it.
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Pah! Try Ina Garten’s biscuit recipe. The regular one not the herb one. They come out terrific.
Ina Garten has never lived in the south.
You don’t have to be born there, but even as a transplanted Yankee I don’t think you can understand biscuits until you’ve lived in the south.
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They’re in her checked bag :))
Interesting read. Looks like there is a distribution business opportunity for the northerners.
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Having moved from ATL in '76 I’ve not had a great biscuit since. I’ll pay the price. RedJim, thanks.
