Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day [A Cookbook]

(Hardback)

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From the James Beard Award winner, Top Chef Masters contestant, and acclaimed author comes this fun, festive, and highly caffeinated ode to the joys and rituals of the Southern breakfast, with 75 recipes inspired by the author's popular restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi. From the James Beard Award winner, Top Chef Masters contestant, and acclaimed author comes this fun, festive, and highly caffeinated ode to the joys and rituals of the Southern breakfast, with over 125 recipes inspired by the author's popular restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi. John Currence is one of the most celebrated and well-loved chefs in the South. Among his string of highly successful restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, Big Bad Breakfast holds a special place in diners' hearts- It is a gathering place where people from all walks come together to share the most important meal of the day, breakfast. Southerners know how to do breakfast right, and Currence has elevated it to an artform- dishes like Banana-Pecan Coffee Cake, Spicy Boudin and Poached Eggs, and Oyster Pot Pie are comforting, soulful, and packed with real Southern flavor. Big Bad Breakfast is full of delicious recipes that will make the day ahead that much better--not to mention stories of the wonderful characters who fill the restaurant every morning, and a meditation on why the Southern breakfast is one of America's most valuable culinary contributions.

Reviews

Big Bad Breakfast is a book youll want to read from front to back.Johns humorous stories, from both in and out of the kitchen,plus his approachable Southern-style breakfast recipes, make thisa 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 experienceat Big Bad Breakfast. I was in desperate need of comfort (from a hangoverand a long flight), sustenance (when youre in the South, your belly knows it mustbe fed), and warmth (okay, maybe Im being dramatic), and Big Bad Breakfastdelivered. Was it the sweet, savory, gooey Sausage Cinnamon Rolls or the deeplydirty and delicious waffle-topped Pylon Or maybe it was the indescribablepower of true Southern hospitality. I revel in that meal, and any mealwith 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 thats true, and shows you that breakfast isnot only the most important, but also the most delicious meal of the day. Get readyfor some of the best breakfast foods youve ever had.
Aarn Snchez,chef-partner of Johnny Snchez and costar of Chopped

Mr. Currence won a James Beard award in 2009 for best Southern chef,and its possible to eat brilliantly in Oxford for weeks, without repeating a course,in his restaurants alone. In fact Id recommend this experience . . . . Hes pushingthe notions of what Southern food can be, pulling off impressive feats witha casual air of embarrassment.
New York Times

Venerable food writer John T. Edge once told us we couldnt leave Oxfordwithout stopping by Big Bad Breakfastand 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 Breakfastoffers a vision of mornings spent with Southern heavyweights like oyster pot pie and banana-pecan coffee cake. If you loveEater'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 youre the sort of person who gravitates toward diners, whose favorite restaurants serve breakfast all day (we are not talking about McDonalds), who makes breakfast for dinner at home and whose idea of a good time is making frosted flakes from scratch, then heresa cookbook for you.Big BadBreakfastis the new book from John Currence, and its a big, bad book of a cookbook. . . . Ed Andersons hunger-inducing photography includes repeating plates of pancakes,lots of cast-iron skillets andeggs 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 crowdedcounter. 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 whos worked in many kitchens, both other peoplesand his own,and you get a growing sense of comfort and thats not just because manyof 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

Author Bio

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, Boure, 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 Appetit, 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.