I recently returned from Charleston, South Carolina. In the photo is what is called low country shrimp boil or Frogmore stew that a friend’s daughter who lives in Charleston prepared. In the bowl near the center of the photo are boiled shrimp that you must peel to eat, smoked sausage and potatoes. Corn is another essential ingredient, and it can be corn on the cob like the photo. I don’t know that it is low country cuisine, but the salad in the bottom right corner is fresh raspberries and pineapple. It was all wonderfully delicious!
The name Frogmore is from an unincorporated Gullah Geeche community on St. Helena Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, along U.S. Route 21. Located halfway between Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park, the Frogmore area is primarily rural. The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton plantations of the lower Atlantic coast. Let's learn more about the low country of South Carolina.
According to Wikipedia, the low country is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. Once known for its slave-based agricultural wealth in rice and indigo — crops that flourished in the hot subtropical climate — the low country today is known for its historic cities and communities, natural environment, cultural heritage and tourism industry.
The term "low country" originally was all the state below the Fall Line or the Sandhills which run the width of the state from Aiken County to Chesterfield County. The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 15-60 km wide region within the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, along the inland margin of this province. The Carolina Sandhills are interpreted as eolian or wind-blown sand sheets and dunes that were mobilized episodically from approximately 6,000 to 75,000 years ago. Most of the published luminescence ages from the sand are coincident with the last glaciation, a time when the southeastern United States was characterized by colder air temperatures and stronger winds. The area above the Sandhills was known as "Upstate" or "Upcountry." These areas are different in geology, geography and culture.
There are several variations on the geographic extent of the low country area. The most commonly accepted definition includes the counties of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper; often described as the area between the Savannah and Ashley Rivers. These four are covered by the Low Country Council of Governments, a regional governmental entity charged with regional and transportation planning, and are the ones included in the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism's "Low Country and Resort Islands" area. The area includes the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Low country cuisine
Low country cuisine is the cooking traditionally associated with the South Carolina low country and the Georgia coast. While it shares features with Southern cooking, its geography, economics, demographics and culture pushed its culinary identity in a different direction from regions above the Fall Line. The map shows where the pale colored coastal plain meets the brightly colored Piedmont plateau region.
With its rich diversity of seafood from the coastal estuaries, its concentration of wealth in Charleston and Savannah and a vibrant African cuisine influence, low country cooking has strong parallels with New Orleans and Cajun cuisine.
The low country includes the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia. There is a difference of opinion as to what exactly the South Carolina low country encompasses. The term is most frequently used to describe the coastal area of South Carolina that stretches from Pawleys Island, South Carolina to the confluence of the Savannah River at the Georgia state line. More generous accounts argue that the region extends further north and west, including all of the Atlantic coastal plain of South Carolina and Georgia. The geography is a critical factor in distinguishing the region's culinary identity from interior areas of the South.
The rich estuary system provides an abundance of shrimp, fish, crabs and oysters that were not available to noncoastal regions prior to refrigeration. The marshlands of South Carolina also proved conducive to growing rice, and that grain became a major part of the everyday diet.
Seafood boil
Seafood boil is the generic term for any number of types of social events in which shellfish — whether saltwater or freshwater — is the central element. Regional variations dictate the kinds of seafood, the accompaniments and side dishes, along with the preparation techniques — boiling, steaming, baking or raw. In some cases, a boil may be sponsored by a community organization as a fundraiser or a mixer. In this way, seafood boils are like a fish fry, barbecue or church potluck supper. Boils are also held by individuals for their friends and family for a weekend get-together and on the holidays of Memorial Day and Independence Day. While boils and bakes are traditionally associated with coastal regions of the United States, there are exceptions.
Catfish stew
Catfish stew is a dish commonly found in the Southern United States, particularly in South Carolina. It typically consists of catfish fillets — taken from the sides of the fish as the belly meat is considered to be of poor quality — which are heavily boiled so that they fall apart, and is then combined with crushed tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Occasionally the tomatoes may be omitted for "white catfish stew," and milk may be added for this style, though this variety is somewhat uncommon. Hot sauce or Tabasco sauce is often added as well.
Country captain
Country captain is a curried chicken and rice dish, which is popular in the Southern United States. It was introduced to the United States through Charleston, Savannah, New York and Philadelphia, but has origins in the Indian subcontinent. The dish was once included in the U.S. military's Meal, Ready-to-Eat packs, in honor of it being a favorite dish of George S. Patton.
It has also appeared on television shows in both the United States and in the United Kingdom, with chefs Bobby Flay, Atul Kochhar and Cyrus Todiwala all cooking the dish. Todiwala served his version to Queen Elizabeth II as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, as well as Kevin Gillespie during Top Chef season 17.
In its basic form, country captain is a mild stew made with browned chicken pieces, onions and curry powder. Almonds and golden raisins or zante currants are usually added. Many versions also call for tomatoes, garlic and bell peppers. The dish is served over white rice. With the exception of the rice, it is meant to be cooked all in the same pot. Chef Mamrej Khan has referred to the dish as one of the first fusion dishes to be developed, making it part of the Anglo-Indian cuisine.
Country captain originated in India as a simple spatchcock poultry or game recipe involving onions and curry and possibly enjoyed by British officers. One theory is that an early 19th-century British sea captain — possibly from the East India Company, working in the spice trade — introduced it to the American South via the port of Savannah. The dish remains popular among the communities in Mumbai, India. The "country" part of the dish's name dates from when the term referred to things of Indian origin instead of British, and so the term "country captain" would have meant a captain of Indian origin, a trader along the coasts of India. Others claim that the word "captain" in the title is simply a corruption of the word "capon" — a cockerel or rooster that has been castrated or neutered, either physically or chemically, to improve the quality of its flesh for food, and, in some countries like Spain, fattened by forced feeding.
In 1991, The New York Times columnist Molly O’Neill researched the origin of the dish known as country captain, which had been a steady feature in southern cookbooks since the 1950s. Working with Cecily Brownstone, they discovered that the dish originally published in the United States in the pages of “Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book” published in Philadelphia in 1857. The recipe required a "fine full-grown fowl." It also appeared in the kitchens of Alessandro Filippini, who was a chef with a restaurant on Wall Street in the 19th century.
Fans of the dish have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, who encountered country captain while visiting the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt introduced it to George S. Patton, and it was Patton's love for the dish which subsequently resulted in it being added in his honor to the U.S. Army's Meal, Ready-to-Eat field rations in 2000. A variety of Southern chefs have recipes for the dish, including Paul Prudhomme, Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse. The dish was featured on an episode of “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay” in season 6 guest-starring Matt and Ted Lee. It also appeared on the BBC One cooking show “Saturday Kitchen” with chef Atul Kochhar cooking the regular chicken and rice version of the dish.
Chef Cyrus Todiwala cooked a variation of country captain on “Saturday Kitchen.” His version was similar to shepherd's pie, in that the meat was baked under a layer of potato. He had previously cooked the dish for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Krishna Avanti Primary School in Harrow as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. That version of the dish used a rare breed of lamb from the Orkney Islands which had been fed on seaweed. The dish is also now on the menu of Todiwala's London restaurant, Café Spice Namasté.
Shrimp and grits
Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish in the low country of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia. It is a traditional breakfast dish, though many consider it more of a lunch or supper dish. Elsewhere, grits are accompanied by fried catfish or salmon croquettes.
Crab cakes
Crab cakes are a variety of fishcakes that are popular in the United States. They are composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, mayonnaise, mustard — typically prepared mustard but sometimes mustard powder, eggs and seasonings. The cakes are then sautéed, baked, grilled, deep fried or broiled. Crab cakes are traditionally associated with the area surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, in particular the states of Maryland and Virginia. Although the earliest use of the term "crab cake" is commonly believed to date to Crosby Gaige's 1939 publication “New York World's Fair Cook Book” in which they are described as "Baltimore crab cakes," earlier usages can be found such as in Thomas J. Murrey's book “Cookery with a Chafing Dish” published in 1891.
Crab cakes are particularly popular along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, where the crabbing industry thrives. Blue crab is common in the low country of South Carolina. They can also be commonly found in New England, the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Northwest and the Northern California coast. While meat from any species of crab may be used, the blue crab, whose native habitat includes the Chesapeake Bay, is the traditional choice and generally considered to be the best-tasting. In the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, the Dungeness crab is a popular ingredient for crab cakes, and the cakes are prepared at many restaurants throughout the region.
Many restaurants and fish markets advertise their crab cake product as "Maryland Crab Cake" or "Maryland-Style" crab cake, which implies the crabmeat is the domestically sourced blue crab; however, it is a widespread practice to substitute cheaper blue swimmer crab, which is imported, usually from Asia. The foreign product is often harvested using methods and practices that would be considered unsustainable in the United States, where the crabbing industry is carefully regulated to ensure sustainability.
Crab cakes are often prepared with no filler, consisting of all-lump or backfin crab meat served on a platter or sandwich.
The choices of sides are usually French fries, cole slaw, potato or macaroni salad. Restaurants serve crab cakes with a lemon wedge and saltine crackers and sometimes with other condiments such as a remoulade, tartar sauce, mustard, cocktail sauce, ketchup or Worcestershire sauce. Many restaurants give their patrons the choice of having their crab cakes fried or broiled. Crab cakes vary in size, from no bigger than a small cookie to larger than a hamburger.
Charleston red rice
Charleston red rice or Savannah red rice is a rice dish commonly found along the southeastern coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, known simply as red rice by natives of the region.
This traditional meal was brought over to the U.S. by enslaved Africans originating from the west coast of Africa. This cultural foodway is almost always synonymous with the Gullah or Geechee people and heritage that are still prevalent throughout the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia. The main component of the dish consists of the cooking of white rice with crushed tomatoes instead of water and small bits of bacon or smoked pork sausage. Celery, bell peppers and onions are the traditional vegetables used for seasoning.
The dish bears resemblance to African dishes, particularly the Senegambian dish thieboudienne, suggesting a creolization of the dish from West Africa to the New World. It also bears a resemblance to jollof rice, a rice dish from West Africa.
Chicken bog
Chicken bog is a pilaf dish made of rice and chicken. It can include onion, spices and sometimes sausage. A whole chicken is boiled until tender — with the sausage, onion and spices, if included — then the rice is added and cooked until it absorbs all the liquid. Cooks often pick the bones and other inedible parts out of the pot and discard them before adding the rice to the meat and other ingredients. It is called chicken "bog" because the chicken gets bogged down in the rice.
Loris, South Carolina celebrates an annual festival called the "Loris Bog-Off." Chicken bog is made different ways in different places, but it is perhaps found most often in the Pee Dee and low country regions of South Carolina.
The name is believed to come from the "wetness" of the dish, but some say it might be because the area where it is popular is very "boggy."
Hoppin’ John
Hoppin' John — also known as Carolina peas and rice — is a peas and rice dish served in the Southern United States. It is made with cowpeas — mainly, black-eyed peas, Sea Island red peas in the Sea Islands and iron and clay peas in the Southeast U.S. — and rice, chopped onion and sliced bacon, seasoned with salt. Some recipes use ham hock, fatback, country sausage or smoked turkey parts instead of bacon. A few use green peppers or vinegar and spices. Smaller than black-eyed peas, field peas are used in the South Carolina low country and coastal Georgia; black-eyed peas are the norm elsewhere.
In the southern United States, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls. Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale, cabbage and similar leafy green vegetables served along with this dish are supposed to further add to the wealth, since they are the color of American currency. Another traditional food, cornbread, can also be served to represent wealth, being the color of gold. On the day after New Year's Day, leftover Hoppin' John is called "Skippin' Jenny" and further demonstrates one's frugality, bringing a hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year.
The Oxford English Dictionary's first reference to the dish is from Frederick Law Olmsted's 19th century travelogue, “A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States” in 1861. However, a recipe for Hoppin’ John in “The Carolina Housewife” by Sarah Rutledge — which was published in 1847 — is also cited as the earliest reference. An even earlier source is “Recollections of a Southern Matron,” which mentions Hoppin’ John — defined in a note as "bacon and rice" — as early as 1838. The origins of the name are uncertain; one possibility is that the name is a corruption of the Haitian Creole term for black-eyed peas “pois pigeons” or "pigeon peas" in English.
Hoppin' John was originally a low country food before spreading to the entire population of the South. Hoppin' John may have evolved from rice and bean mixtures that were the subsistence of enslaved West Africans en route to the Americas. Hoppin' John has been further traced to similar foods in West Africa, in particular the Senegalese dish thiebou niebe.
One tradition common in the United States is that each person at the meal should leave three peas on their plate to ensure that the New Year will be filled with luck, fortune and romance. Another tradition holds that counting the number of peas in a serving predicts the amount of luck or wealth that the diner will have in the coming year. On Sapelo Island in the community of Hog Hammock, Geechee red peas are used instead of black-eyed peas. Sea Island red peas are similar.
American chef Sean Brock claims that traditional Hoppin' John was made with Carolina Gold rice — once thought to be extinct — and Sea Island red peas. He has worked with farmers to reintroduce this variety of rice. As of 2017, several rice growers offer Carolina gold rice.
Other bean and rice dishes are seen throughout the American South and the Caribbean and are often associated with African culinary influence in the Americas. Regional variants include the Guyanese dish "cook-up rice" which uses black-eyed peas and coconut milk, "Hoppin' Juan" which substitutes Cuban black beans for black-eyed peas, the Peruvian tacu-tacu and the Brazilian dish baião-de-dois which also often uses black-eyed peas.
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