Episode 47: Isaac Vanderhorst, Poogan's Porch (Charleston, SC)

It's the holiday season, and so I began thinking about gifts. One of the gifts of Southern food is, in my opinion, biscuits. Tender and buttery with a little crust, they are more than the sum of their humble parts. In Charleston, S.C., I'd be hard pressed to find a better biscuit than those that come to the table by the basketful at Poogan's Porch, an iconic restaurant of the city known for its Southern cooking and a ghost story or two. The man behind the magic -- sure, it's a cliche but taste his handiwork and tell me different -- is Isaac Vanderhorst. Biscuits are his legacy, something he couldn't have imagined all those years ago when he was a busboy and pressed into service by a cook who was behind in her work. I've already covered biscuits two times this year for The Southern Fork, and to me, there is always room for more. Ike's been baking biscuits for 40 years, and he and I go deep into biscuit talk, so if you're looking for a drinking game, you could take a sip everytime we say "biscuit." Happy holidays and please pass the butter.