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 […]
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 […]
Gulf Creamed Oyster and Corn Chowder
AS ANYONE KNOWS WHO’S EVER BELLIED UP TO THE Acme Oyster House in New Orleans’ French Quarter and uttered to one of the expert shuckers, “Half dozen to start,” Gulf oysters are the fattest, most succulent oysters on earth. Bay Adams, Four Bayous, Baptistes, Choctawhatchees the names go on and on, from Panama City, Florida, […]
Chilled Peach and Mango Soup
FROM THE DAY THE FIRST CLING PEACHES FROM South Carolina and Georgia show up in Southern markets and on farm stands till the last freestone Elbertas and Georgia Belles disappear in September, cooks utilize the luscious fruit in everything from elegant soups to cobblers to preserves. Traditional chilled peach soup has always been considered an […]
Clemson Blue Cheese Soup with Southern Comfort
THOUGH STILL AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE CAROLINAS, Clemson Blue Cheese, produced in relatively small quantities on the campus of Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, is one of the South’s best-kept secrets. Compared favorably by professional turophiles (cheese lovers) with Iowa’s famous Maytag Blue and many distinguished European blue-veined cheeses, Clemson Blue is strictly artisanal, […]
Turtle Bean Soup
KNOWN ALSO AS TURTLE BEANS, BLACK BEANS HAVE been used in the Deep South to make this inimitable soup since at least the early nineteenth century, and even today, turtle bean soup is deemed to be one of the most elegant ways to begin an elaborate dinner. Ironically, the greatest version I ever tasted was […]