As we have reported more than once, the annual Southern Foodways Alliance symposium is a pretty magical occurrence where like-minded individuals come to discuss, debate, celebrate, and (most importantly) eat the very best of what the South has to offer. It was at one of these events where we first really got to know chef John Currence. Anyone who knows much about southern food knows about John’s restaurant City Grocery or any of the other five restaurants he runs from his home base in Oxford, Mississippi. But, our love for John (and his breakfast) was cemented a few years ago on the final Sunday morning of a symposium—after a rousing evening and maybe one too many glasses of bourbon—when we were all handed Chinese to-go containers filled with crumbled biscuits and sausage and a heavy dose of John’s tomato gravy. Out of four days of some of the most amazing food in the world, this was one of the meals that stuck with us for good.

John’s newest cookbook, Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day, named for one of his successful restaurant concepts, is perhaps the most raucous recipe collection you’ll ever own. His persona comes across immediately—knowledgeable, unfiltered, and hilarious. You won’t find any other cookbooks that make you laugh this hard, that are also packed with truly delicious, unintimidating recipes. And who can resist a breakfast cookbook with an entire chapter devoted to cocktails…

In the introduction, John traces his obsession with breakfast to his New Orleans childhood and memorable meals at bakeries, breakfast joints, and lunch counters. He believes that breakfast took a turn for the disastrous when those diners slowly faded from existence, to be replaced by flavorless fast food biscuits, rubbery bacon, and (shudder) the Egg McMuffin. He, in fact, writes a letter to America’s favorite fast food chain that begins, “Dear McDonald’s, You make shit for food.” (He also admits, “My lawyer and my publisher hate me, if you haven’t guessed. Fortunately, my editor thinks I am kind of amusing.”) But John does not merely criticize; he also provides plenty of alternatives, ranging from sausage cinnamon rolls to skillet scrambles, to homemade pop tarts. There are elevated selections and international options, like crab cake benedict, chorizo migas, shakshouka, and a grits and collard soufflé. Plus, he will teach you how to cook an egg just about any way you can think of.

Some of the recipes in Big Bad Breakfast may require that you forego your calorie counting, but there is an entire chapter for “Cereals, Grains, and other Pseudo-Virtuous Things.” And, in times of absolute emergency, John offers the ultimate hangover killer: The Pylon. This Belgian waffle, topped with hot dogs, chili, sweet slaw, cheese, and multiple condiments is lauded in the book’s foreword by famed chef David Chang, who credits the dish with reviving him from the worst hangover of his life. The point is—there’s something here for everyone. Pick up Big Bad Breakfast and visit one of its brick and mortar locations today.