Good ol’ Southern biscuits

News Staffer Emily Couch learned how to bake biscuits at Mama’s Boy’s on Sept. 13. With the help of an experienced chef and a welcoming environment, Couch participated in making Southern food, an unfamiliar style from the Western cooking she was used to back in California. Photo by Chloe Sears

News staffer Emily Couch shares her experience learning how to bake biscuits in the homey and comforting environment of local restaurant Mama’s Boy.

The smell of sugar and freshly baked treats filled my nose as I walked into Mama’s Boy, getting
me excited for the Southern biscuit-making opportunity that awaited me.

Chefs from the Athens restaurant welcomed me with warm smiles and excitement, comforting me as I became immersed in Southern culture for the first time since I moved from Orange County, California.

When I first arrived in Georgia, I was shocked by the difference in culture, cuisine and more small-town community. Due to my exclusive experience with California’s restaurants, I was unaccustomed to typical Southern cuisine. Every restaurant I visited in the South included biscuits as a side option, if they were not incorporated into main courses.

I’ve always had an idea of what Southern cooking tastes like from trips to the South, but this was my first time becoming involved in this type of culture personally.

When I entered the kitchen, I was immediately embraced into a comforting second home for families and friends. Keeping an eye out for the wet floors and focused chefs, I walked into the crowded kitchen. Everywhere I looked, there were employees and staff members collaborating, and tackling multiple machines and ovens at once.

My photographer, ODYSSEY Media Group Print Managing Editor Chloe Sears, and I made it to our destination — a slightly raised nook that overlooked the rest of the kitchen and displayed the chefs’ concentration. I introduced myself to the cook I was working with, William Clarke, also known as the Biscuit Messiah in the kitchen, and dove into learning about how to make this restaurant’s Athens-famous biscuits.

We first placed the ingredients into the mixer, and while watching them slowly combine together, I was fondly reminded of watching my mother do the same at home in California. She would always let me lick the mixing utensil afterwards, calling it the reward for our hard work. Alongside the Mama’s Boy chefs in Athens, I returned to the comfort of baking authentic original family recipes with others.

With the ingredients mixed together, the Biscuit Messiah granted me the job of kneading the dough. He was trusting me with a responsibility I had only executed in my own kitchen, and I was excited to take on the challenge.

It is not just about the taste — cooking with loved ones offers a chance to connect with one’s community.

As we worked, folding the dough back and forth on the wooden table and waiting for it to become a soft consistency, the chef talked about his experience in the restaurant business and his favorite memories with the other cooks. The consistent chip-ins that the other employees added into his stories, making it more enjoyable and bringing me into the connectedness of the restaurant.

When we began cutting the biscuits into their designated shapes and placing them in the oven, I felt as accomplished as the other Mama’s Boy chefs seemed to be.

I never paid attention to the environment and community of the restaurants I went to in California because they never impacted me like Mama’s Boy did in this experience.

For me, the restaurant experience in California felt like it was more of a process where you order food, sit down, eat and pay once you have finished. There was little emphasis on warm employee-customer interactions, or establishing a welcoming atmosphere. At Mama’s Boy, this was the focus of everyone involved.

When we finished baking, we took pictures of our success and had fun with the excess flour on the table by making hand prints to signify our baking achievements. I was filled with indescribable joy because I had contributed to the creation of a Southern masterpiece, a completely different cooking style than what I was used to over on the west coast.

The environment I was in had as much of a significant impact as the baking did on how I now see Southern cuisine and its cultural impact. I learned that southern cooking tells a story and provides history for a community from the interactions I saw between co-workers and people. It is not just about the taste — cooking with loved ones offers a chance to connect with one’s community. I have tasted large amounts of culturally-influenced foods in my West Coast hometown. Here, I gained a new perspective on baking and Southern cuisine. I was wrapped into a loving community, and I saw how such comfort fuels so many local businesses around me.

I may not be a biscuit-making expert yet, but I do understand the key fundamentals of good ol’ Southern cooking and the origin stories behind these special interactions.

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