Review
“Big Bad Breakfast is a book you’ll want to read from front to back. John’s humorous stories, from both in and out of the kitchen, plus his approachable Southern-style breakfast recipes, make this a killer cookbook that is not to be missed.”
– Emeril Lagasse
“I am not a breakfast person, yet no food memory will live up to my experience at Big Bad Breakfast. I was in desperate need of comfort (from a hangover and a long flight), sustenance (when you’re in the South, your belly knows it must be fed), and warmth (okay, maybe I’m being dramatic), and Big Bad Breakfast delivered. Was it the sweet, savory, gooey Sausage Cinnamon Rolls or the deeply dirty and delicious waffle-topped Pylon? Or maybe it was the indescribable power of true Southern hospitality. I revel in that meal, and any meal with John at the helm.”
– Christina Tosi, chef-owner of Milk Bar and author of Momofuku Milk Bar
“They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. With Big Bad Breakfast, John gives you 137 reasons why that’s true, and shows you that breakfast is not only the most important, but also the most delicious meal of the day. Get ready for some of the best breakfast foods you’ve ever had.”
– Aarón Sánchez, chef-partner of Johnny Sánchez and costar of Chopped
“Mr. Currence won a James Beard award in 2009 for best Southern chef, and it’s possible to eat brilliantly in Oxford for weeks, without repeating a course, in his restaurants alone. In fact I’d recommend this experience . . . . He’s pushing the notions of what Southern food can be, pulling off impressive feats with a casual air of embarrassment.”
– New York Times
“Venerable food writer John T. Edge once told us we couldn’t leave Oxford without stopping by Big Bad Breakfast—and boy, are we glad we listened to him. Chef John Currence is a great cook with a lot of soul.”
– Serious Eats
"Chef-ruler of Oxford, Mississippi, John Currence is here to make the case for breakfast. With recipes from the restaurant that gives this book its title, Big Bad Breakfast offers a vision of mornings spent with Southern heavyweights like oyster pot pie and banana-pecan coffee cake. If you love Eater's Breakfast Week, biscuits, the idea of cinnamon rolls baked with sausage filling, and/or restaurant cookbooks that actually seem cookable, this one's for you."
- EATER NATIONAL
"If you’re the sort of person who gravitates toward diners, whose favorite restaurants serve breakfast all day (we are not talking about McDonald’s), who makes breakfast for dinner at home and whose idea of a good time is making frosted flakes from scratch, then here’s a cookbook for you. Big Bad Breakfast is the new book from John Currence, and it’s a big, bad book of a cookbook. . . . Ed Anderson’s hunger-inducing photography includes repeating plates of pancakes, lots of cast-iron skillets and eggs in various compositions, pouring coffee, Elvis Presley tapestries, biscuit step-by-steps, shots of a baseball-hatted Currence at work in the kitchen or bellied up to a crowded counter. Flip through all this, read the chatty anecdotes (in praise of MSG, the emu egg in the parking lot), and the handy tips from someone who’s worked in many kitchens, both other people’s and his own, and you get a growing sense of comfort — and that’s not just because many of the recipes are for comfort food."
- LOS ANGELES TIMES
"This is a book that earns a spot on your shelf. It is a cookbook of substance, put together with care. Currence has things to teach us: the amount of knowledge on eggs alone is worth the price of the book, ditto the biscuits."
- LUCKY PEACH
About the Author
John Currence opened City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi in 1992. Since then, the City Grocery Restaurant Group has opened a number of restaurants, including Ajax Diner, Nacho Mama’s, Kalo’s Tavern, Big Bad Breakfast, Bouré, Lamar Lounge, The Main Event, and Snackbar. Currence is the recipient of the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef South and the Southern Foodways Alliance Guardian of the Tradition Award. He has appeared on television programs such as Parts Unknown, Mind of a Chef, Bizarre Foods, Treme, and Top Chef Masters and his writing has appeared in Food & Wine and Bon Appétit, among many others. He is a contributing editor for Garden & Gun magazine, a board member of No Kid Hungry (a project dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger in the United States), and an organizer and past board member of the prestigious annual Southern Foodways Symposium.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BREAKFAST
1. THOU SHALT EMBRACETH THE DAY.
First, accept that every day is new, fresh, and unique. Position yourself in the kitchen with an attitude that reflects your solemn purpose: you are about to prepare THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY, likely for someone you care for (otherwise you would not be up and at ’em at the stove).
2. THOU SHALT HOLD NO MEAL HIGHER THAN BREAKFAST.
Commit to raising this disregarded meal from the depths of neglect to the place of honor it deserves. Pledge to put the same effort and passion into preparing breakfast as you would lunch or dinner. In other words, make something other than just a plate of eggs.
3. THOU SHALT GET THY MIND RIGHT.
This is fun, damn it. Plan ahead so you don’t stress yourself out early in the morning: shop the day before, stock strong coffee, prep certain items in advance, and find some music that gets you going in the wee hours. All of these will make the chore at hand a little easier.
4. THOU SHALT SLATHER WITH BUTTER.
It will not kill you (consumed in quantities within reason, that is). Just let go for a few minutes and enjoy life a little. No fat tastes better on toast with jelly or when cooking eggs (bacon fat included).
5. THOU SHALT ANOINTETH WITH BLACK PEPPER.
Whenever pepper is called for in an ingredients list, use freshly cracked black pepper. (The only exception is when I specifically call for white pepper.)
6. THOU SHALT MAKE FROM SCRATCH.
It will certainly take more time and effort, but the essence of Big Bad Breakfast is scratch cooking. It’s what made grandmother’s cooking “grandmother’s cooking.” As a matter of fact, I am certain that if my grandmothers and great-grandmothers had not succumbed to other, more natural afflictions, shame over what we accept as food these days would certainly have consumed each of them.
7. THOU SHALT USE RESTRAINT WITH INGREDIENTS.
Lots of folks get the wrong idea about recipes and lean toward “the more flavors and ingredients I add, the more complex the end product.” This could not be farther from the truth. The best cooking celebrates the elemental beauty of ingredients. You want to be able to taste everything in the dish, not create something that is just a muddle.
8. THOU SHALT SEEKETH LOCAL WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
Honey, eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, jellies, coffee, flour—whatever it is, a local product is more often than not going to have a more singular character. Visit farmers’ markets, bake sales, local farms, and locally owned grocery stores.
9. THOU SHALT NOT OVERCOOK.
I am fascinated with the American worry about “undercooking things.” Food can always be cooked more if it is not cooked enough, but YOU CAN’T FUCKING UNCOOK IT if you cook it too long. Granted, we shouldn’t rub raw factory chicken on our toast right before we eat, but I have been making fresh mayonnaise and Caesar dressing with raw eggs for thirty-five years and nobody has ever been sick. Trichinosis is not carried by domestic pigs, and a piece of cooked pork that’s still a little pink beats the crap out of a well-done, dried-out offering. Try the yolk runny, people. With a little salt, it transforms dishes from good to resplendent.
10. THOU SHALT REMEMBER THE SABBATH, BUT COOK FROM THIS BOOK EVERY DAY.
You can make pancakes for your kids, freeze them, and rewarm them later. You can make a breakfast casserole or assemble sweet rolls the night before and just turn on the oven the next day. Breakfast is a fun meal, and most of the time, it doesn’t require a ton of effort or mess. More often than not, it’s just about clearing your eyes and committing to loved ones. Remember, breakfast is a joy, not a chore, and the possibilities are endless. It just comes at a weird time of day. And if that’s the deal breaker for you, well, shit, make breakfast for dinner.
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