Funeral Feasts - was Re: SC - Marion Zimmer Bradley: Mourning Song (FWD)

[Bonne of Traquair]

><<  platters with large piles of ham biscuits >>
>
>Please excuse the Los Angeles city kid, but what is a ham biscuit? I hear
>(and read) this term frequesntly.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Renata

When my family first moved from Florida to NC twenty years ago, we thought 
it might be biscuit dough with bits of ham mixed in.  Didn't sound too 
yummy. We were happy to find out that it is:

A fresh biscuit , split and filled with slices of country ham.  For parties 
or weddings, or funerals, beaten biscuits are preferred and the biscuits are 
cut the size of 50 cent pieces.  For everyday, cut them bigger and one or 
two will suffice for breakfast.

OK, so now you want to know what a beaten biscuit is. Well, it's an old 
technique whereby you make a dryish biscuit dough and then knead and beat 
the dough until it blisters. Doing so causes the gluten to develop and the 
finished product has a smooth and crispy exterior and the interior texture 
is more breadlike and less cakelike than a basic biscuit.  Originally, you 
litterally beat it.  With a hammer or perhaps a club meant for the task.  
Maybe they used one of those big pole and tall narrow bowl corn crushing 
things that you think of slaves using.  (Who did you think was beating this 
dough?)

After that era came to a close, someone invented the biscuit brake.  It 
resembles a cross between a pasta machine and an old tredle sewing machine, 
only the rollers are dimply. It was worked up from sewing machine parts, the 
treadle was used to turn the wheels that pounded the dough.  You pass the 
dough back and forth and fold and repeat until the texture is right.  The 
machines were made by hand, the demand was never large enough for a factory. 
After biscuit mix and canned biscuits and the great migrations to the 
cities, the technique had nearly died out. It was revived in the 70's when 
someone figured out that kneading the dough in a food processor would do the 
trick.

I don't know if a kitchenaid or other mixer with a dough hook would produce 
the right effect. The brake and the food processor kept it in a solid piece 
and beat it, the dough hook might rip it up and that could change 
everything. Bear, do you have an opinion on this?

Since Carl Jr. resteraunt chain bought out our Hardee's resteraunt chain, I 
expect ya'll should have ham biscuits appearing there soon. All the fast 
food places in the south sell them, even McDonalds, even in Florida.  The 
biscuits won't be beaten biscuits, just rolled and cut. There's also sausage 
and bacon biscuits and some people put scrambled eggs and a slice of cheese 
on them.  I've even been to vegetarian resteraunts in Chapel Hill and Durham 
that sell seitan or fakin' bacon biscuits for those whose food traditions 
and food preferences conflict.

Bonne

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