How Sawmill Gravy Got Its Name And Became A Southern Staple

America has produced no shortage of great breakfast meals. We'll probably never know the real origin of Eggs Benedict. Still, they're most likely a New York creation of Delmonico's, while hash browns probably developed as part of U.S. railroad dining culture. But there's one American breakfast dish that might captivate more than any other and perplex non-Americans who haven't had it: The Southern staple known as biscuits and sawmill gravy. Thick, savory sawmill sausage gravy atop fluffy, buttery biscuits might be the king of all breakfast foods, but where did it come from in the first place? And why in the world is it called "sawmill" gravy?

The answer, it turns out, isn't quite as cut and dried as you might think, and it's based heavily on legend and hearsay. There are two theories about where it came from — either the South in the wake of the American Revolution or Appalachia toward the end of the 19th century. Likewise, there are two schools of thought as to the term "sawmill": It might've been because of the gravy's texture, or it might have been because of the dish's general association with lumber workers.

You might think associating food with a place like a sawmill that produces nothing like food is a strange choice, and it is. But there's also a story behind it — or rather, a couple of different stories. Like many great dishes throughout history, biscuits and gravy developed in less economically advantageous communities from ingredients that could be readily accessed – like pan drippings, milk, flour, black pepper, and pork sausage. All these ingredients would have been an equal boon to Americans during or after the Revolutionary War or to Americans living in Appalachia in the 1800s, and food historians are divided on the subject.

But the original sawmill gravy contained another ingredient that may contain a clue as to its name: cornmeal. This addition lent the gravy a much more gritty quality than we typically see today, and it may have been called "sawmill gravy" because this texture was kind of like sawdust. Then again, it could simply have been an association with lumber workers, as it was an affordable, calorie-heavy meal eaten by employees of southern Appalachia's largest industry at the time.

What's interesting, though, is that biscuits and gravy didn't really take off in their modern form until much later than either origin story. The original biscuits for sawmill gravy were harder than today's, almost like a cracker. In the 1870s, though, biscuits changed as a result of the creation of baking soda and baking powder, as well as new technology that altered the flour refining process and made flour more accessible than ever before. The result was the modern dish we know today — although it's less clear when cornmeal was taken out of the general sawmill gravy recipe.

Because of the newer version's increased affordability, it spread rapidly among poorer communities across the South. Though it would take longer for it to become more of a national dish rather than simply a regional one, eventually the rest of the country caught on to a meal that is equal parts cheap, delicious, and filling. Today, you can find biscuits and gravy pretty much anywhere in the U.S. While there are debates about where to find the best biscuits and gravy in America, it remains one of the signature culinary legacies of the South.