Frogmore Stew
ONE OF THE MOST EXCEPTIONAL PHENOMENA IN THE United States is the coastal Gullah culture that still exists between Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina, and on the area’s remote Sea Islands. Historically, Gullah was the language spoken by black slaves (also called Geechees) on the vast Lowcountry rice plantations. While much of the African patois […]
Carolina Gumbo
EVEN MOST SOUTHERNERS DON’T REALIZE THAT EVER since the days of the great Carolina rice plantations, gumbo has been as popular in the coastal Lowcountry as in Louisiana. The main difference between the two gumbos is that the Carolina version is not based on a roux the way the Creole classic is, and depends exclusively […]
Gumbo Ya Ya
IN THE EARLY 1970S , I WAS AT COMMANDER’S PALACE in New Orleans the day that head chef Paul Prudhomme came up with this chicken-and-sausage gumbo and owner Ella Brennan was searching for a catchy name for it. “We wanted to offer a nonseafood gumbo in the restaurant,” Ella recalls today, “and when Paul created […]
Seafood Gumbo
OKRA INSTEAD OF FILÉ POWDER IS USED TO THICKEN this classic Creole gumbo, but with that exception, both the ingredients and cooking technique characterize what is undoubtedly the most popular gumbo throughout the Southern Gulf states. The name gumbo derives from the African Congo word for okra (guingumbo), and legend has it that when the […]
Pamlico Muddle
IT WAS THE EARLIEST ENGLISH COLONISTS WHO introduced muddles (“a mess of fish”), mulls, and other robust seafood soups and stews to the barrier islands that separate North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean, and today the tradition continues all along the remote Outer Banks. I’ve had muddles so thick with fish and shellfish […]
Cape Fear Shrimp Bisque
MORE OFTEN THAN NOT IN THE SOUTH, A SEAFOOD bisque bears no more resemblance to the silky smooth French dish than a soufflé imitates the fluffy wonders associated with that name. (Virtually any baked casserole dish that contains eggs can be called a soufflé.) Even in Charleston and New Orleans (where crawfish bisque is thought […]
Pumpkin Corn and Bell Pepper Chowder
IF THIS CHOWDER SEEMS SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH TO come from a fine restaurant, it’s because it was inspired by a creamy, amazing corn chowder with red pepper I raved about at Fearrington House, outside Chapel Hill, North Carolina (operated, as it happened, by an old high school classmate of mine, Jenny Fitch). Forever searching for new […]
Succotash Chowder
IT’S BEEN OVER A CENTURY AND A HALF SINCE Lettice Bryan showed us how to use corn in soups and chowders in her Kentucky Housewife “receipt” book, but at Southern chowder parties today (especially in Florida, where chowder is king) you’re just as likely to find vegetable chowders such as this as you are ones […]
Maryland Crab Chowder
ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE SPECIALTIES OF Baltimore and Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay area is the thick, brilliant orange, peppery crab soup found in casual restaurants such as The Chesapeake, Copsey’s, and Courtney’s. And it was after consuming two bowls of the fiery potage at Copsey’s (followed by a little local country ham stuffed with greens) […]
Florida Conch Chowder
BECAUSE IT TENDS TO BE TOUGH AND STRONG-TASTING if not handled properly, conch (pronounced “conk”) can be an acquired taste to all but Floridians and Gulf Coast residents accustomed to eating the mollusk fresh during the peak summer season. Fortunately for we who love a good conch chowder, the meat is available frozen or canned […]