...besides shrimp and grits? I had a friend ask me this question the other day after I returned from Charleston and I had a hard time answering his question because I ADORE shrimp and grits and its all I ever order. Anyone?
suse
May 27, 2008 05:56PM
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That's kind of like asking what "southern food" is - you're bound to get a million answers. I was born and raised in Charleston, and IMHO, lowcountry cuisine means fresh ingredients with lots of "local" food - rice, seafood, fresh veggies. You know, now that I think of it, I also don't remember anyone ever eating shrimp and grits growing up - fresh chopped tomato on grits, for sure, and a ton of shrimp and red rice, but never shrimp and grits.
Opinions will definitely vary - but there's my two cents. :-)
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I would add that "low country" refers to the region south of Beaufort, South Carolina down to Savannah. I am not sure why, but even the area around Myrtle Beach to Cape Fear in North Carolina "feel" too far north to be included in this designation. When I think of these regional dishes, I would add black eyed peas and rice, versions of Hoppin John, gumbos made with shrimp and chicken in a stew of tomato and onions and thickened with okra, not file powder as in Creole of New Orleans. I also think of "oyster stew" -- a deliciously milky, creamy broth with little more added than freshly shucked oysters and maybe a bit of tobasco or finely chopped tomato, Frogmore stew (basically a shrimp boil with sausage and potatoes and corn on the cob). Oh, I just remembered "Benne wafers" a thin cookie of sesame that is a specialty around Savannah and Charleston. Boiled long grain Carolina rice. . . . chicken bog -- a stew of a whole chicken, lots of black pepper and salt and brothy rice. . . . sweet potato pone and finally corn bread and spoonbread. . . . small, short biscuits -- not too greasy with sorghum or molasses.. ..hooray, I love the South !!!
In short, this cuisine was heavily influenced by the culture of the West African slaves who became so integrated into the daily life of Carolina and Georgia.
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Not to argue, as I have never lived in the area, but have visited many times, it seemed that the "area" extended north, and into NC, by a bit. Am I just wrong in this?
I did see a strong West African influence, though different that the "Creole" influence in New Orleans, though there were strong ties to Africa and the slave trade, through the Caribbean. My first guess would be the availability of ingredients.
Regardless, thanks for the clarification,
Hunt
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N.C. has nothing to do with Low Country cuisine, if I am not badly mistaken.
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See my comment below.
However, the Gulla Culture does span both Carolinas, along the coast.
Hunt
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I would borrow from the two replies prior to mine and add to it a little bit. In order to get a good idea of what low country cuisine is you really have to divorce it from good old southern cuisine. For instance, you'll find fried green tomatos in lots of restaurants serving low country cuisine but in my opinion that's just southern cuisine and not limited to the low country. So one way to classify it might be the use of ingredients that came to North America through the low country (whether it be via colonialists or African slaves) that then served as staples for the regions inhabitants. Some of these ingredients may be widespread in their use today but because of the historical connection will always be associated the the low country. So a dish that used rice as its primary ingrediant, such as a chicken bog, would be considered low country vs. southern because rice was such a staple for the low country throughout history.
In addition to the historical component there is also a contemporary component to what is now considered low country cuisine. This is where a dish like shrimp and grits comes into play. Since the low country is a coastal region there is obviously a lot of seafood used in the food there. Shrimp, crab, oysters, and certain fish like red drum are all extremely common. A dish like shrimp and grits uses a very common southern ingredient like grits but becomes low country cuisine with the inclusion of shrimp.
As Suzy Q mentioned, you also have to consider the use of fresh ingredients. Charleston has become the cultural center of the low country and it is fortunate to be surrounded by a large number of agricultural communities that can provide fresh vegatables and meats. This as become an extremely important aspect of the cuisine there.
One last point. It is also important to note, as squashblossom did, that the use of many of these ingredients was popularized by the African slaves that influenced so many other aspects of our culture. Oysters, shrimp, crab, and many of the low end cuts of meat that make low country cuisine so distinctive would likely not be nearly as popular today if the African slaves had not introduced them to the dinner tables of the plantation owners.
Sorry for being long-winded. I hope this helps.
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That is the best and most informative post I have ever seen on this website. Great job.
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A view from the outside would suggest that most of the foods/ingredients are fairly simply cooked. There are a lot of one pot dishes, etc.
DT
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"Low Country Cuisine," is an amalgam of dishes, seasonings and ingredients, most often found in the coastal Carolinas. There are common elements of “Southern Cuisine,” but many of the dishes are unique to that geographic area. Though raised in the Deep South, and fairly well experienced with the various regional dishes and preparations of those areas, my first trip to coastal Carolina was filled with surprises.
The first “shrimp n grits,” that I ever had was there. Hopin’ John, a kind of succotash dish, also seems to emanate from that area. There were also many, many variations on dishes, that I knew, in another disguise - biscuits come to mind.
Obviously, seafood is prominent in many of the recipes. As one moves inland, and upland, pork replaces much of the seafood.
There are probably a hundred other dishes, that are unique to, and probably better exemplify “Low Country Cuisine,” than my scant references.
Hunt
[Edit] It has been pointed out in a previous post, that I may have been wrong, when I stated "Coastal Carolinas." These folk would know, and I'm going on MY exposure to the cuisine and am linking that to the geographic regions, that I traveled to. Believe them!
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Low country is a subset of southern, along the coastal plain (ie below the piedmont rivers' "fall line" of (south) carolina, delineated north and south only by how much you want to engage in a local argument.
Historically rice and indigo for dye were the plantation mainstays. The most important African imports include okra, sorghum, sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, field peas, peanuts, melons. The coastal sloughs offered an aquatic based protein source.
There's a really nice classic Saveur article:
http://www.saveur.com/saveur-travels/...
An interesting google string that gets right to the heart of the matter is:
gullah grits okra
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peanuts are not native to africa. they are native to mexico and south & central america. sweet potatoes are also american. these food items were already in parts of north and south america and the caribbean before any africans, or europeans, arrived.
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Good points about the genetic origins of those plants, soupkitten.
I was addressing the question in the fashion of: How did the ingredients, the recipes, and the cultural groups all coincide in the lowland carolina country to produce what we now call "lowcountry cuisine?"
The initial importation and subsequent mix occurred in Charleston, where more than 40% of slaves entered North America.
An excellent article by Holloway describes the crops and cultural cuisine that the Africans brought with them:
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_cuisine.htm
Also for consideration:
http://www.aboutpeanuts.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=72
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:e-EIVeN-3H8J:cemerced.ucdavis.edu/files/18981.pdf+sweet+potato+history+africa&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us
On a lighter vein: two other experts on peanuts:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10409
http://laughingsquid.com/railroad-squ...
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thanks for the links, FF, very interesting. (i apologize for not having time to check them out before now). i did know that there was lots of back-and-forth with staple food crops during the pre-civil-war americas and the rest of the world, but thought i'd toss out the american origins of a couple of ingredients that now seem intrinsic to many african cuisines-- just as tomatoes, which were also brought back from the new world, have become staples of many european and mediterranean cuisines. interesting to remember that many of the most famous dishes of these cuisines did not exist, or existed in very different forms, before europeans brought these revolutionary ingredients back from north & south america and the caribbean.
here's a cool link back at you: interview with jessica harris, one of my fave cookbook authors/food historians, because she's so interested in how foods (historically) travel and transmutate from one place to another. she talks about peanuts, tomatoes, and creolization toward the end. she has a fascinating concept of the foods of africa and the americas influencing each other in the"atlantic rim" (as opposed to the pacific rim) which she's tracked through her travels and books. her books are great if you are interested in this stuff. anyway here's the link, hope you like it:
http://www.learner.org/channel/course...
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Jessica's Beyond Gumbo is a really cool book. She's right on target with the Atlantic Rim.
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But some yams are African in origin. For the most part, people use the two terms interchangebly now because they are typically labeled both ways in US grocery stores (they are sweet potatoes not yams).
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i think only the canned sweet potatoes are called (yes, incorrectly) "yams."
i really haven't seen many actual fresh yams in regular (as opposed to caribbean) grocery stores. i wonder how that tradition began of calling sweet taters in cans "yams"? usually, i associate it with the dish "candied yams"....
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Sweet potatoes and yams are actually two different things... from two different plants. Although, as mentioned most people (the South included) will use the terms interchangeably.
Real yams are difficult to find in the US... the sweet potato is commonly available.
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/vegetables/sweetpotato.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_%28v...
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Glad that the differentiation between these two items, has been brough out. Back in NOLA, they were readily available (spearately), though in other areas of the US, where we have lived, that differentiation is not nearly so clear.
Since my wife was Miss Sweet Potato (about '65), she made it clear to me, that they were NOT the same, regardless of what the A&P, or my mother, seemed to think.
Hunt
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i have found that in southern grocery stores, sweet potatoes are not called "yams", and the terms are not used interchangeably. the only misnomer is with the canned sweet potatoes, which are sometimes, when fixed in a certain way, called "candied yams."
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this is a nice resource on gullah culture: http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/gullah.html
this, too: http://www.ultimategullah.com/culture...
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Thank you for the link. I had forgotten that term, "gullah." Though I heard it a lot, it's nice to have it spelled out a bit.
Hunt
PS - I was very obviously incorrect, in my geographical reference: "Carolinas." Low-country is just relative to part of South Carolina. Sorry for my error.
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my nephew and his wife enjoy gullah cuisine there in mt. pleasant (just north of charleston....) http://www.gullahcuisine.com/
slightly OT, but for some delightful listening to the gullah language, take a peek at this fun site, and listen to the gullah story-teller, aunt pearly-sue. http://www.knowitall.org/gullahnet/
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Bill, you were not necessarily incorrect. The definition of the Lowcountry is a subject of much debate. These days, it's commonly defined as the coastal region between the Santee and Savannah Rivers; however, there is a broader defintion, based on the traditional rice growing region of the Southeast, that stretches north to Wilmington, NC. Some, though not many, still use this definition today.
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fyi, i found several low country & gullah recipe/food lore sites:
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/Broome/teachers/manasas/food.htm
http://www.blues101.org/recipes.htm
http://www.ultimategullah.com/food.html
http://www.visitcharleston.org/cookin...
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As has already been stated here, one can't underestimate the African influence on Lowcountry cuisine, though that's true of Southern cuisine in general, too. What really makes Lowcountry cuisine unique in my opinion is its broad range of historic influences that stem from the early cosmopolitan nature of the region and specifically Charleston. In addition to African slaves and British settlers, early immigrants to Charleston included the French (both Hugenot and Catholic), Hasidic Jews, and Germans among others. There were many Native Americans in the area (a few still remain) and that also influenced the culture (for example, it is theorized that the Spanish introduced peaches to the Natives who in turn introduced them to early British settlers in the area), as did the sea trade that thrived, and continues to thrive, in this port town (trade with India and the West Indies is even today reflected in our use of chutneys and curries). Legend has it that the pineapple became the symbol of hospitatlity in Charleston as a result of the tradition that sea captains, recently returned from tropical climes, would impale said fruit on the spikes of their homes' front gates to announce their return and to invite friends over to visit and partake of the exotic goods they'd procured.
I would define Lowcountry cuisine today as a sub-genre of Southern cuisine that boasts a depth and breadth of influences unmatched anywhere else, save possibly New Orleans. From red rice to green tomato chutney to pickled okra to perloo to spiked tea punches (the early forerunner of today's iced tea) to she-crab soup, this is the South's true melting pot cuisine. I hope that in the hoopla over our (admittedly fantastic) restaurant scene that tends to lean towards the haute/nouveau/modern, we don't lose sight of the traditions that make our food so special.
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Well-said, Jon. Nice post.
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Thanks, Jimmy.
Looking back at my post, I realize I typed "Hasidic Jews" when it was actually Sephardic Jews who were early immigrants to Charleston. An important distinction. Some Ashkenazi Jews did migrate to the city at a later date.
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LCJ,
Thanks for the info and the clarifications. Having lived in New Orleans, and only traveling to Charleston (and its environs), I did find many similarities. I even commented to my wife (a NOLA native), that Charleston was like New Orleans, except a lot cleaner.
I suppose that because of some major differences in influence (Cajun comes to mind), the cuisines did diverge in many areas, though there are some strong similarities. Also, the differences in the adjacent soils, and the produce that they could grow, probably had almost as much influence.
Thanks to all of the respondents of this thread for a real culinary (and otherwise) history lesson.
To me, these are two great US dining cities, though NOLA gets more press.
Hunt
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Chalreston is a remarkable food town, absolutely one of the great food towns anywhere.
But I sure would love to get down to Nawlens and get me some good Cajun and Creole food sometime soon...
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With family still there, we make the trip 1-2x/year. Chareston, however, has been on the radar screen for another visit, but we just can't seem to fit it in. We're in DC 4x/year, and always have events the day before, and one the day after, so we have to limit ourselves. To be so close, yet so far away...
I'd love to steal my wife for a couple of weeks and do the Carolinas (Charleston would be tops on our list) and then the Eastern Mountains. Maybe a major "road trip" will be in our future.
Thanks for the input,
Hunt
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Thanks to everyone for such interesting and informative responses.
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