Biscuits are steeped in mystery and legend and are one of the foremost icons of Southern cooking. James Beard Award-winning Chef Scott Peacock is one of their most trusted keepers. His biscuits have been celebrated on the covers of Gourmet and Food & Wine magazines, the pages of Better Homes & Gardens and The New York Times, and on The Martha Stewart Show and the Today Show. Scott will be the featured Chef for this year's Dinner with Scott Peacock for the Columbus Botanical Garden at the Big Eddy Club on Wednesday, October 16.

By Olivia Sheehan

Born and raised in Alabama, Peacock took his first industry job as pastry chef at The Golden Pheasant in Tallahassee, Florida, where he sailed an ocean of mother sauces on a swan-shaped boat of puff pastry. From there, Peacock moved to Atlanta to cook for the governor.

Famed Southern chef Scott Peacock first cooked with the legendary Edna Lewis as her assistant at a Southern food dinner in Atlanta. He was in his 20s; she was 74. Over the next 15 years - up until her passing in 2006 - they continued cooking together and became dear friends.

Can you tell us about your journey as a chef? What led you to become one of the most renowned Chefs in the country? It began when I was a toddler, being in the kitchen watching my mother and grandmother and our housekeeper, Gertrude Moore, the people I loved most in the world, cook. The kitchen is a place of wonder and transformation and it has always called to me. I'm not succinct to outline my journey and career in just a few sentences, but my Wikipedia does a pretty good job of it and I've posted a link to it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Peacock.

You were born in Hartford, Alabama, how did the culture of the south and Alabama influence your craft? It influenced me tremendously, though it took a long time for me to realize that it had. I grew up outside of town, surrounded by fields and pastures, with neighbors who kept chickens and where homemade country butter could still be found and purchased nearby. My father planted a large garden each year and in the summer my sister and I would cut okra twice a day, in very early morning and again in early evening. My father's parents were sharecroppers, and though he grew up very poor, working and living off the land, he and his family had very high standards with regard to and a deep appreciation for food and cooking (hence the cutting of okra twice a day). My mother and all my grandmothers were wonderful and caring cooks, as was our housekeeper when I was a young child, Gertrude Moore. I'm very lucky to have grown up in that environment, where food and flavors were pure and where the preparation of food was given value and importance and understood to be a sacred act.

After working in two of Atlanta’s most renowned restaurants, you have retired to your home state of Alabama. What led to your transition, and do you miss the city? I love Atlanta and lived there for 30 years, the longest I've lived anywhere. But 12 years ago I began interviewing the oldest living native Alabamians that I could find about their earliest memories of food and in the process discovered how little I knew about my home state and fell deeply in love with it, in particular the Black Belt region. Nine years ago I bought a 190 year old house in Marion and began spending more and more time here, writing and growing rare antique strains of southern biscuit wheats, indigo and rice. I understood even before I bought my house that there were things I could do here that I could not do anywhere else and I wanted to explore that. I do miss the city sometimes, in particular the convenience of city life and the Atlanta airport.

“I'M VERY LUCKY TO HAVE GROWN UP IN THAT ENVIRONMENT, where food and flavors were pure and where the preparation of food was given value and importance and understood to be a sacred act. The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.”

You are known for your famous biscuits. If you had to choose, which would be your favorite way to have them served? To me, a well made, hot from the oven biscuit is delicious and satisfying all on its own without any adornment. But split and generously spread with soft butter while warm and a judicious spoonful of not too sweet wild plum or mayhaw jelly, is very hard to beat. The combination of fig preserves and thinly sliced country ham isn't too bad, either.

What is your biggest source of inspiration when creating new recipes? The quality and integrity of ingredients are huge inspirations and tell you so much. Tradition and ritual are tremendous sources of inspiration for me, too. You were an apprentice and close friend of legendary chef, Edna Lewis.

What do you think is one of the most important lessons she passed onto you, in terms of cooking or in life? To notice. And the importance of owning and honoring who you are without compromise or apology. It's the foundation for everything, and before I met her I had very little understanding of myself.

Besides cooking, what other crafts and hobbies interest you? Presently, I am rather obsessed with growing and dyeing with indigo.

Throughout your career you have been recognized with many honors and awards. Do you have a moment or title that you are most proud of, if so, why? Unquestionably it is my friendship with Miss Lewis. And I'm very proud of the book we wrote together, The Gift of Southern Cooking, too.

You are now offering workshops in Marion, Alabama to teach the tradition of Southern biscuit making. How have people responded to the ‘Biscuit Experience’, and what is your favorite part of this intimate workshop? Response to the Biscuit Experience has been tremendous. We began offering the Biscuit Experience in the final days of 2018, and already we've had guests from all over the country attend. Last week, a woman and her husband drove all the way from Oklahoma just to make biscuits in Marion, Alabama. A couple from London are scheduled for later this year. That is humbling and deeply, deeply meaningful for me. It is such a joy and privilege to spend the day visiting and making biscuits with people. Biscuit making is a sacred act and a container for memory and emotion. Sharing that with people is about as good as it gets. It's the culmination of my life so far. SVM

CHEF SCOTT PEACOCK