After spending the past few weeks immersed inthe land of biscuits and bacon, I've been thinking about breakfast food and which Southern staple reigns supreme.
As much as I love a good biscuit − Scout's in Powell does them right − I think I'm Team Grits.
Grits are quintessentially Southern and were a frequent flier on my early morning menus growing up. I remember my mom whipping up a pot of cheese grits in our kitchen and my grandma cooking tomato grits on summer weekends, memories that still come to mind whenever the breakfast debate comes up.
I was curious to hear the preferences of other Southerners, so I asked a few of my colleagues from the breakfast homeland (decidedly below the Mason-Dixon line) about their favorite early morning meals. It
turns out the answers are just as varied as we are and have just as much to do with the food as they do with the memories of sitting down to dine.
- Hayden Dunbar Evans, storyteller reporter.
Devarrick Turner: Homestyle mornings with family
I rarely eat breakfast but love breakfast foods, and that’s what makes my fondest Southern breakfast memories so special. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house growing up, including sleeping over on Saturdays to go to church with them on Sundays.
The aroma of Neese’s Country Sausage or bacon filled the house every Sunday morning, and my grandma loved making crispy pancakes and fried cornbread. Even now, when I smell my cup of coffee brewing in the morning, I think of how my grandaddy and I would pour sugar into our mugs to make the coffee extra sweet.
When there wasn’t enough time to cook breakfast, we’d stop at McDonald’s after church for a stack of pancakes or at the local favorite biscuit chain, Biscuitville, for fresh Southern biscuit sandwiches.
- Devarrick Turner, trending news reporter
Keenan Thomas: A preference for pancakes
My quintessential breakfast item will forever be the classic pancake. Sure, I could get my fill at IHOP or the countless flapjack restaurants dotted throughout Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, but nothing beats homemade pancakes: the dash of vanilla in the batter, the burning of the first cake as the griddle heats up and the thick, gooey syrup draped over a short stack.
Pancakes are a formative breakfast food for me. The smell wafting through the house and the golden-brown color of each cake have been permanently stored in my food memory bank.
- Keenan Thomas, higher education reporter
Mariah Franklin: In these parts, it's a Waffle Home
A hot plate of hash browns is the core of my favorite Southern breakfast experience, whether I’m eating at home with family or in a restaurant. Part of that comes down to ingredients; heavily salted potatoes, loads of butter and melted American cheese all have the artery-hardening qualities I expect and appreciate in Southern food. But part of my love is rooted in the memories.
When we were kids, my twin and I would scrape plates of our mom’s hash browns clean while we watched ancient cartoons on a very bulky television and talked over our childhood hopes and schemes. When we were older, we’d grab the hashbrown nuggets from Burger King before heading to school (brain food).
The first thing I did after getting off a plane in Atlanta after spending a year out of the U.S. was head to a nearby Waffle House in search of WiFi and a 3 a.m. breakfast. The staff’s Southern accents and a greasy plate of hash browns made for the perfect homecoming.
- Mariah Franklin, high tech growth reporter
Ryan Wilusz: A love letter to livermush
I'll leave the sausage-versus-bacon debate to the birds. Livermush, a Western North Carolina staple that's practically unheard of just over the Tennessee line, was the breakfast meat of choice in my family growing up. If you've had scrapple, it's similar, though I'd argue livermush is in a league of its own.
It's exactly what it sounds like, though not nearly as scary as it seems. Like Devarrick, a fellow North Carolina native, I grew up on Neese's. More than the sausage, I wanted the block of pork-based livermush that could be sliced thin, pan-fried and tucked into a breakfast sandwich. My favorite version came on a soft hamburger bun with eggs and cheese from Troy's 50s Diner just down the street in my hometown, the kind of place where people grab biscuits from the gas station while picking up bait and everybody's grandma supposedly makes the best breakfast in town.
How much do I love livermush? I once paid an Instacart driver to deliver a block across state lines from an Ingles in North Carolina for a farmhouse breakfast I was attending in East Tennessee. Everyone was too scared to try it, which was disappointing until I realized that meant I had an entire block of livermush to myself. I only get my hands on it a couple OF times a year, so I'll take all I can get.
- Ryan Wilusz, business growth and development editor
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The supreme Southern breakfast staple is the one that feels like home | Opinion
