By Sarah Marie Glass
Growing up I was lucky enough to have a sit down dinner with my brothers and both of my parents almost every night. Our meals consisted of three “colors” as my mother would say: a meat or fish, a salad or prepared vegetables (sometimes both), and a starch of some sort. There was always a broad range of starches whether it was a fancy pasta or rice or a rosemary olive oil loaf or homemade whole wheat bread. However, I could count on a few fingers the number of times that we were served biscuits with our dinner.
Upon moving from Washington, D.C. to the South for college at the College of Charleston I realized how much of a staple biscuits are at the southern table. The buttery goodness of biting into my first real southern biscuit was almost paralyzing. Do not get me wrong – my mother is an outstanding cook who can make even kale tickle your taste buds. However, it was something about the way the biscuit complimented my meal that made the eating experience that much better. I felt at home in the South, fully comforted by this delicious pillow inside my mouth.
This began my quest for the perfect biscuit. Working on King Street downtown I was always exploring the local biscuit opportunities. I must thank Virginia’s on Queen for frequently supplying the store I worked at with scrumptious biscuits. These were a real treat. If there was a biscuit on the menu at a restaurant I visited, by golly I would order it. I expanded my search, almost obsession at this point, to places other than King Street. My taste buds took a tour of Charleston, biscuit by biscuit, for about two years.
I yearned for those biscuits while I was on sabbatical from the South exploring the wonders of Italian cuisine during my semester abroad. The day you find a biscuit in an Italian restaurant would be the day you find an Ohio transplant going back to Ohio.
When I returned to Charleston after my adventures I was pleasantly surprised by a new biscuit that I had never tasted before. While I was gone my roommate Lauren Vinciguerra had been doing some of my legwork for me. She is one of the most talented bakers I know and I am beyond lucky to live with her. In my absence Vinciguerra began working at the bakery that makes the best biscuit I have ever tasted. The first biscuit I had when I returned was a buttermilk biscuit from Callie’s Charleston Biscuits.
Now, what makes Callie’s Charleston Biscuits the best biscuits? I truly believe they are the best in the South. I found myself in good company: some of Callie’s more notable fans include Oprah and Martha Stewart, and food critics from dozens of national publications: New York Times, Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, and Country Living to name a few.
I asked Vinciguerra who has become a true biscuit expert to explain to me what made these fantastic biscuits so special. What it boiled down to was what the biscuits really represented: traditional Charleston southern cooking.
All of Callie’s biscuits are made by hand in small batches of about 126 biscuits, one sheet pan at a time. Vinciguerra explained “Most companies use mixers but the only thing we use mixers for is to make the mustard butter for ham biscuits and the cinnamon butter for cinnamon biscuits.” There at most four people baking in the kitchen at any given time. There are only three stations the biscuits go through before going into the single industrial oven in the kitchen. Step 1: Mix, 2: Stamp (roll out dough, cut out biscuits, fill pan), 3: butter (of course). The process takes about thirty minutes from prep to a fully baked biscuit.
Until just the past year or two only family members made Callie’s biscuits. Callie’s employees are required to sign a contract stating that they will not replicate the recipe as their own or even tell people what exactly is in the biscuits. The secret recipes remain under lock and key.
All that the public can know: “they are made of things that you would find in almost any pantry, there’s nothing crazy in it. The beauty is in the simplicity of them: All of the biscuits have less than 10 ingredients” explained Vinciguerra. Despite their simplicity, their taste is mouth-watering.
The unique freezing and packaging process that follows allows for, literally, worldwide enjoyment. Vinciguerra explained that “Right after the biscuits are fully baked we flash freeze them. The next day we vacuum seal them and then put them back in the freezer. We try to keep at least 200 biscuits of each flavor in the freezer at all times. Once we receive an order we put them in coolers and we ship them in cooled packaging with gel ice packs.”
In just five years Callies Charleston Biscuits have become internationally known and recognized. In the Charleston area the delectable biscuits can be found in a variety of Piggly Wigglys (and Piggly Wiggly owned stores including Seaside Farms and Fresh Fields), Caviar and Bananas and other specialty stores. Nationally Callie’s Charleston Biscuits are carried at every Dean and Deluca and in many specialty stores. There is no need to fret if you cannot find a location where the biscuits are carried close to you. Callie’s ships to just about any address worldwide. “One time we shipped to Australia” said Vinciguerra. Just place your order at www.calliesbiscuits.com and little bites of Charleston will arrive on your doorstep within days.
Now if and when I do leave the South, I will not have to leave my biscuits behind.
*Watch out for Callies on the Today Show on Thursday, July 1.
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