I think it has to do with the fact that every scone I’ve ever had is particularly dry and very dense. An American biscuit is denser than an average slice of bread, but still generally quite moist and spongy.
Maybe scones hit differently when they are very fresh? In the US we get scones almost exclusively at coffee shops or bakeries from the front window and I’ve never had one that was offered hot.
Edit: I would suggest a biscuit here is more like… Almost a croissant with thicker layers? Or like a stack of pancakes (made the European “crepe” sort of way, so pretty thin) but with thinner layers? Lol. It’s hard to exactly characterize.
A perfect southern American biscuit is fluffy, layered, tender, buttery. Much more like a croissant than the scones we get here. They are just as good smeared with sweet jam, jellies, and honey as the are paired with mashed potatoes, gravy, and sausages. Usually best served hot, fresh out of the oven. They almost melt in your mouth in a good way.
(My grandma made amazing southern biscuits: white flour, cold butter or shortening or lard, baking powder, salt, mix with fingers til crumbly, pour in enough buttermilk to just mix a soft dough. Roll out, cut into rounds, place on baking pan, brush with melted butter, goes into a hot oven. When tops are golden brown pull out and enjoy. They should be double to 3 times the height of rolled out dough. Work fast because overworked dough gets tough and loses some rise)
Scones here are usually cold, dry, dense, and crumbly. I’ve had sweet and savory scones. They seem like they are made to soak up some sort of liquid or be washed down with coffee or tea. I think we what we get given as scones are either stale or a prank.
The scones available in the American South suck. They suck when I have made them myself. I’ve tried 3 different recipes. I can make some buttermilk biscuits though, and they are glorious. So either scones suck, like in general, or they don’t bake right in our climate.
I was raised by Southern women and you know what? This is accurate. The Southern style biscuit is basically an American scone. I’d never considered this before, but it is correct.
They’re delicious. A biscuit is a small, palm sized baked goods made with flour and fat. They’re fluffy, and you pull them in half, put some butter on them, and eat them.
Gravy is a speckled chicken gravy, a white gravy sometimes with sausage in it, and it goes well with the biscuits
In addition to the biscuit recipe Tony replied with, the gravy in question is normally a white gravy made from “breakfast sausage” (ground pork with spices, particularly sage) and black pepper. The dish is salty, savory, and quite filling. Mostly served for breakfast with eggs and/or hashbrowns.
I’m talking through this thing that sounded super weird to me (Who puts brown gravy on small hard cookies?! How on earth is that a dish on a cooking competition?! Why do they think that the guy putting the brown gravy on meat instead was the crazy one?!), and I’m understanding more, partly with your help (thank you), but every time I express something in British English that I understand you tell me I’m wrong, which is less fun.
It’s a different dialect dude, allow me my own usage and terminology.
“It’s crazy how Brits call anything in a bowl after main course a pudding! Cake? Pudding. Yoghurt? Pudding. Chocolate mousse? Pudding. If they have a spoon in their hand, they’re probably gonna call it pudding, pudding or not!” - better. Now we’re both having fun.
There’s dialect and then there’s “no, that’s not what that word means.” I’m not telling you it’s wrong to call several different things pudding, I’m pointing out that it’s kinda weird not to just extend that acceptance to gravy when someone describes something from their culture.
Brisket and gravy makes sense as a meal, but wtf is biscuits and gravy?
I’m British and there’s no end of meals that I would have gravy with, but biscuits isn’t one of them.
I can tell it’s a cultural/language thing because North Americans call biscuits cookies, but I don’t know what they mean by biscuits here.
https://feastgloriousfeast.com/breakfast-biscuits/
Ah OK, so biscuit means savoury scones.
Every time I have this conversation with Americans they insist that it’s nothing like scones but then they describe something suspiciously sconelike
I think it has to do with the fact that every scone I’ve ever had is particularly dry and very dense. An American biscuit is denser than an average slice of bread, but still generally quite moist and spongy.
Maybe scones hit differently when they are very fresh? In the US we get scones almost exclusively at coffee shops or bakeries from the front window and I’ve never had one that was offered hot.
Edit: I would suggest a biscuit here is more like… Almost a croissant with thicker layers? Or like a stack of pancakes (made the European “crepe” sort of way, so pretty thin) but with thinner layers? Lol. It’s hard to exactly characterize.
Exactly!!
A perfect southern American biscuit is fluffy, layered, tender, buttery. Much more like a croissant than the scones we get here. They are just as good smeared with sweet jam, jellies, and honey as the are paired with mashed potatoes, gravy, and sausages. Usually best served hot, fresh out of the oven. They almost melt in your mouth in a good way. (My grandma made amazing southern biscuits: white flour, cold butter or shortening or lard, baking powder, salt, mix with fingers til crumbly, pour in enough buttermilk to just mix a soft dough. Roll out, cut into rounds, place on baking pan, brush with melted butter, goes into a hot oven. When tops are golden brown pull out and enjoy. They should be double to 3 times the height of rolled out dough. Work fast because overworked dough gets tough and loses some rise)
Scones here are usually cold, dry, dense, and crumbly. I’ve had sweet and savory scones. They seem like they are made to soak up some sort of liquid or be washed down with coffee or tea. I think we what we get given as scones are either stale or a prank.
That is also clarifying. Thank you.
It’s a buttery scone with the layered texture of a croissant that’s had a weight pressed down on it.
This is the best description
sconophobia is deeply ingrained in the american south
The scones available in the American South suck. They suck when I have made them myself. I’ve tried 3 different recipes. I can make some buttermilk biscuits though, and they are glorious. So either scones suck, like in general, or they don’t bake right in our climate.
No. Absolutely not. Unlike scones, biscuits have a nice texture.
A good scone is kinda crunchy outside with a nice soft inside. They change texture pretty quickly though.
I’m doing something wrong then. Mine come out more arid than desert sand.
I was raised by Southern women and you know what? This is accurate. The Southern style biscuit is basically an American scone. I’d never considered this before, but it is correct.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzdbFnv4yWQ
They’re delicious. A biscuit is a small, palm sized baked goods made with flour and fat. They’re fluffy, and you pull them in half, put some butter on them, and eat them.
Gravy is a speckled chicken gravy, a white gravy sometimes with sausage in it, and it goes well with the biscuits
No one in the US eats brisket with gravy. It would typically be a tomato based bbq sauce or nothing.
In addition to the biscuit recipe Tony replied with, the gravy in question is normally a white gravy made from “breakfast sausage” (ground pork with spices, particularly sage) and black pepper. The dish is salty, savory, and quite filling. Mostly served for breakfast with eggs and/or hashbrowns.
So gravy here means a sausage meat white sauce. Thanks for the clarification.
When Americans cannot fathom that the same word has different regional meanings.
Given their knowledge of the “one true English”, I wonder how they’d feel about my sharing a fag with a hooker at the park this past Saturday.
“Gravy” here means “gravy”. You may treat brown gravy as the default but the drippings+thickener+liquid idea is the same.
No no no, not to me here on this side of the pond! To me, this feels like a conversation like this:
“So rifle here means pistol.”
“Rifle means rifle. You may treat long rifles with a stock as the default, but the barrel + trigger + high velocity projectile idea is the same.”
I don’t think you should get to be particular, considering how you treat the word “pudding”.
I’m talking through this thing that sounded super weird to me (Who puts brown gravy on small hard cookies?! How on earth is that a dish on a cooking competition?! Why do they think that the guy putting the brown gravy on meat instead was the crazy one?!), and I’m understanding more, partly with your help (thank you), but every time I express something in British English that I understand you tell me I’m wrong, which is less fun.
It’s a different dialect dude, allow me my own usage and terminology.
“It’s crazy how Brits call anything in a bowl after main course a pudding! Cake? Pudding. Yoghurt? Pudding. Chocolate mousse? Pudding. If they have a spoon in their hand, they’re probably gonna call it pudding, pudding or not!” - better. Now we’re both having fun.
You want your feelings hurt look up Yorkshire Pudding.
I don’t have to look it up. I have Yorkshire puddings most Sundays!
There’s dialect and then there’s “no, that’s not what that word means.” I’m not telling you it’s wrong to call several different things pudding, I’m pointing out that it’s kinda weird not to just extend that acceptance to gravy when someone describes something from their culture.
So this breakfast “gravy” is made with drippings from a roast? What meat is roasted for biscuits and gravy?
The fat renders out of the sausage. It’s usually made in a single large pan.