International Biscuit Festival – 7 Things to Know Before You Go

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Thinking about going to the International Biscuit Festival in Knoxville? Whether you are local or have to travel across the country, you should find some of my notes helpful.

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1. Go! Yes, it is worth the trip and there are so many delicious, creative biscuits to be devoured in a relatively short period of time. Read my previous posts of favorite biscuit, second favorites, and honorable mentions to see examples of the kinds of biscuits you might encounter.

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2. Go early! Tickets for Biscuit Boulevard went on sale at 8:30 while the festival started at 9:00. We got there at 9. There were already long lines for some of the really popular booths. Although the festival officially goes to 3:00 pm, some booths were out of biscuits by 11:00.

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3. Finish your coffee before you get there. You want to have your hands free because they will fill up quickly. You will be carrying around your ticket, plates with biscuits, and the bottle of water they give you when you buy the ticket. Better yet, bring a shoulder bag you can put the water into. You may have to manage a huge biscuit like this one!

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4. Prepare for weather. It was raining when we left our hotel but that did not seem to diminish the crowd (I kind of hoped it might mean more biscuits for me!). See #3. Even more difficult to hold everything when you also have an umbrella.

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5. Bring a friend. Eating biscuits together is a bonding experience. Also, the way it works is you purchase a ticket for $10 that allows you 5 biscuits. If you and your good friend share each of the biscuits, then you each get to try 10.

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6. Stay close to Market Square if you are coming in from out of town. This area of Knoxville is lovely and everything you could want is within walking distance. Great restaurants. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza because it had a discounted rate for festival goers. Check the festival web site a few months ahead for info.

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7. Don’t panic! You will get your fill of biscuits. I wish I had taken a little more time to think about which biscuits I wanted to try because I missed a few that looked really good. I was worried by the long lines at first and then realized they move quickly. We actually could not finish all the samples that we did get.

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See you next year!

International Biscuit Festival 2013 (part 3)

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While they did not quite make it into my top three, there were several other biscuits that are definitely worth mentioning. The Biscuit Love truck totally rocked the sweet category with their Bonuts. Yep. That’s a biscuit donut combo.

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It was filled with cream and served with some kind of berry compote. Folks were talking about this one. Biscuit Love Truck is from Nashville, too. Nice to see my hometown represented.

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This biscuit with bacon, clabbered cream, and a balsamic reduction drizzle was the most “gourmet” of the bunch I tried. Sometimes that kind of thing feels forced and sounds better than it really is. Not so in this case.

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I had to Google clabbered cream. It is basically a sour cream but better. It was piped into the hot biscuit right before serving and then the balsamic was drizzled on top. It was slightly sweet and the flavors all melded well. It is so pretty, too!

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Southern Living is another I have to mention. They made a kind of “pigs in blankets” biscuit that was crusty and buttery on the outside, soft on the inside, with the perfect proportion of sausage to biscuit. I read later that they went through all 1000 biscuits they had brought in two hours! See my next post for tips on getting the most out of your festival-going experience so that you don’t miss out when you go next year.

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International Biscuit Festival 2013 (part 2)

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My second favorite biscuit was a little different. Think of it this way. The Green-Eyed Monster was like a fiery redhead, exuberantly gathering all of the attention in the room. The Country Apple Cinnamon Biscuit was like her quiet, intellectual sidekick. No less interesting, but easier to miss.

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See? It was a little flat and plain. I almost passed it by and my expectations were low. Trust me though. It was wonderful. Light and fluffy, slightly sweet, with just enough cinnamon and a hint of apple. Such a pleasant surprise. This one was made by Latitude 35, a restaurant right on Market Square.

Third place, in my opinion, was somewhere between these two characters, if we’re going to continue my metaphor. Perhaps not the life of the party but everyone’s best friend.

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Oh my word. Shrimp Andouille Sausage Biscuit. The biscuit was fine but that gravy was amazing. I’ve never really tried to make gravy before but this both inspired and intimidated me in almost equal parts. If you happen to have a killer gravy recipe, please share it with me! This one was made by Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant.

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That’s it for now. More later . . .

International Biscuit Festival 2013

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What a beautiful, rainy, crowded biscuity day it was! May 18, 2013. My first International Biscuit Festival and it did not disappoint.

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This was one of my favorites. The Green-eyed Monster Pimiento Cheese Buttermilk Biscuit from Biscuit Mecca, aka Tupelo Honey Cafe.

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It was huge, moist, slightly spicy, and fabulously flavorful. The pimiento cheese was in the biscuit dough, while the “monster” from the title was a deep fried pepper.

Green-eyed Monster Pimiento Cheese Buttermilk Biscuit
That, folks, is just the beginning. More later….

Loveless

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“Meet me at the Loveless,” he said, and I agreed.

The idea was to meet on his side of town, have brunch, and go on a motorcycle ride. I had only been on a motorcycle once before so it was kind of a big deal.

The Loveless, in case you don’t know, is a Nashville icon. It is actually in a tiny town called Pasquo south of Nashville, but we still claim it as our own. It used to be the Loveless Motel – now it is the Loveless Cafe. They are known for fried chicken and ham and other country cooking, including their famous biscuits. I couldn’t wait.

We met at about 11:30. It was a Sunday. A beautiful fall day. Seemed like a great plan until we realized how packed the Loveless was and that we would never get a table. I stifled my disappointment as we made a quick run to the gas station next door to get BBQ as a substitute. Yes, that is what I said. We went to the gas station to get a BBQ lunch. Gotta love Tennessee.

The ride along the Natchez Trace and surrounding small roads was lovely. He knew I was a little nervous so would pat my hand every now and then while we rode. It was very sweet. We had a little picnic along the way and the BBQ was good. As we were headed home, we stopped at an overlook and marveled at the view. It was a romantic moment, sitting next to each other in the sunshine, warmed by our time together. As he leaned in for a kiss, I pulled back and said, “You owe me a biscuit.”

We both cracked up. It is over a year later and I still have not had a biscuit from the Loveless. He now says we won’t go to eat there until I move to his side of town. I have to admit – it IS an incentive. He did bend the rules slightly and buy me a bag of their mix so that I could make my own biscuits. The mix is pretty good, but I’m holding out for the real thing. He still owes me a biscuit.

Nice, but not the same as a biscuit.

Nice, but not the same as a biscuit.

The Obsession

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Welcome to the Persnickety Biscuit!

Here you will find an exploration of all things BISCUIT! For those of you from “across the pond,” note that I am talking about the quintissential southern biscuit from the United States. A savory treat, not a sweet one. [Well, that does depend somewhat on the biscuit, but I’m getting ahead of myself.]

What started this fascination of mine? Was it the motorcycle ride where the expectation of a biscuit with brunch was denied? Was it those buttery toasted biscuit halves that I enjoyed when I was going through chemo? Or was it that trip to Asheville and the sublime fresh biscuit goodness at Tupelo Honey Cafe?

Who knows what really drives an obsession. I’m sure it is part flavor, part history, part experience. All those things and more create an emotional connection. Yes, I said that, an emotional connection to biscuits. Bear with me. This is just the beginning of the Persnickety Biscuit. For the full story, or stories, you will need to delve a little further into the site.

I make no promises here of regular posting, flawless photos, or even step-by-step recipes. All I know is, the biscuit deserves some attention and I plan to take care of that.