Monday evening, I attended a book discussion and sampling at the Atlanta History Center for Erika Council’s new book Still We Rise: A love letter to the southern biscuit with over 70 sweet and savory recipes. This is a first for me – I have never been to a discussion or sampling of a cookbook before, but it was delightful!
Council is the creative mind behind one of Atlanta’s foodie hotspots – Bomb Biscuit Co. During the event, she discussed her family’s influence on her restaurant and book, and her journey from corporate America to entrepreneur. As several audience members stated during the Q&A, Council is an inspiration and so relatable!
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During the biscuit reception before the discussion, I took some time to glance through the cookbook and read some of the stories Council included alongside the recipies. I am excited she has included several different “basic” biscuits like the southern buttermilk, baking powder, angel, sour cream, mayo, and lard biscuits! It is often discussed what is the “best” biscuit (even the audience got into that Monday), but my favorite will always be buttermilk biscuits – it was what I was raised on!
I am also excited Council included several additional sections in the book to give you a glimpse into the Bomb Biscuit kitchen. Between the Savory and Sweet sections, along with the spreads and sandwiches, I have a lot of baking to do! I plan to test all of these biscuits in the coming months and will share our results on our Instagram page as we do.
Beyond the discussions of what ingredients are best, what techniques you should use, and how to get your own Bomb Biscuits (shipping is coming soon!), Council’s discussion revolved mainly around family. Her two grandmothers and great-grandmother influenced her cooking in ways you don’t see much anymore. Growing up in a family where everyone cooked, she originally didn’t want to open a restaurant – Council saw how much effort it took and mentioned she didn’t want to be tired all the time. However, food is sometimes the glue that holds family, and our society, together.
Council shared that her grandmother started plate sales to fundraise during the Civil Rights Movement and her grandfather was good friends with Medgar Evers. Following the Civil Rights theme, she discussed how her mother was kicked out of a 5 and Dime store as a child for drinking at the wrong fountain, but later went back to work at the lunch counter there after desegregation. In discussing family, Council mentioned that her grandmother developed Alzheimer’s and dementia later in life, which deprived her of most memories, but she could remember anything baking related!
Well before a restaurant or cookbook was ever in her mind, Council started selling plates out of her dorm room in college at North Carolina A&T. She entered the corporate world in the IT field after college, spending 15 years in the field. She later started holding Sunday Suppers to explore her culinary creativity. During the pandemic, she began doing delivery boxes, which developed into popups and later the original location of Bomb Biscuit Co.
Throughout the hourlong discussion and Q&A, Council offered advice for the home cook and chef alike. Council uses local ingredients at the restaurant like Banner Butter, but also acclaimed national brands like King Arthur flour. She also mentioned that not all ingredients are created equal. For instance, protein in flour may vary depending on brand, and the “extras” in self-rising won’t work in recipes calling for all purpose. There was a spirited discussion about buttermilk (aka: the stuff you grab in the store is really “soured milk” not the biproduct of making butter) and a discussion about how the best biscuits she had growing up were made with Piggly Wiggly flour. The process can be more important than the ingredients at time – light hands and starting with only half your liquid, adding more as needed, will help you reach the consistency you want. Several times, she also mentioned that the key to good food is to take your time – rushing your biscuits will make them hard as rocks!
During the Q&A, several audience members pressed Council on her future plans to expand her brand or add locations. While it sounds like she would love to add a few locations, that is not in the cards right now. However, they will start shipping biscuits soon from the restaurant, and she is exploring options for product placement in larger retail stores (she mentioned Publix?!). Council also mentioned she does not have a commitment to write/publish another cookbook at this time, but nothing is off the table. With the acclaim coming in for this one, I can see her publisher ordering a new book soon! She did mention a passion she would explore if not for biscuits would be sourdough…maybe that could be the next book?
Closing out the discussion, one audience member asked Council what legacy she wants to leave behind. As she mentioned throughout the discussion and the book, Councils grandmothers and great-grandmother left her with a legacy of cooking and encouragement she hopes to continue through her work. She feels its important to give back to the community and mentors the college students who work in her kitchen. This kind of mentorship and teaching lasts forever as it is passed down through the generations.
If you already have your copy of Still We Rise, share your favorite recipes below! I’d love to hear what you think!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Book Lovers, Emily Henry
- Current audio book: The First Family, Joseph J. Ellis
- Book I’m most looking forward to: The Rules of Magic, Alice Hoffman
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