Gullah Cuisine of South Carolina

 One great thing about living in the United States is the fact that the variety of people, culture and cuisine is vast.  We live in a Melting Pot and because of that our food has influences from all around the world.

I was recently watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations.  He took a trip to South Carolina and learned a little about The Gullah and their cuisine.

The Gullah people used to live in areas that stretched from the Northern part of Florida up through Cape Fear, North Carolina.  Now,  they mostly reside in areas of South Carolina and Georgia.  Most Gullah reside in the Charleston and Savanah areas due to the history of these cities ports being huge trade centers for slaves.

“Gullah” is believed to be derived from the ”Gola” people of Sierra Leone.   Their language is English-based with influences from the Creole, Jamaica and Africa.  The Gullah people were able to maintain much of their culture due to the area which they lived.  The swamps of South Carolina and Georgia made for great rice plantations, but it also meant mosquitoes that carried malaria and yellow fever that came over on the slave ships.  The white plantation owners were more susceptible to these diseases than the slaves who had grown a resistance.  Because of this, the owners would basically have the slaves manage the rice crops and themselves without much white influence.  This allowed the Gullah to hold on to traditions from the islands and Africa.

Understandably, Gullah cuisine is heavily influenced by rice and the ocean.  A popular dish is Frogmore Stew.  Don’t worry, it contains no frogs:

Frogmore Stew

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons crab boil seasoning per gallon water (or more to taste)
• several lemons, halved (optional)
• redskin potatoes (depending on size, 3 or more per person)
• spicy smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch slices (¼ pound per person)
• fresh corn, broken into halves or thirds (1 ½ ears per person)
• shrimp (½ pound per person)
• butter, melted
• cocktail sauce
• sour cream
• ketchup

PREPARATION:

Fill a large steamer pot halfway with water. Add crab-boil seasoning (or more to taste). Several halved lemons may be added as well.

When the seasoned water comes to a boil, add redskin potatoes and boil for 20 minutes; then add one-inch slices of spicy smoked sausage and boil for 5-10 minutes. Add the corn) and boil another 5 minutes. (Begin timing immediately. Do not wait for it to boil again). Then add the shrimp. Cook for 3 minutes, drain, and pile on a table.

Serve with lots of paper towels and icy beverages, plus melted butter for the corn, cocktail sauce for the shrimp, and sour cream or ketchup for the potatoes.

*Don’t Overcook the Shrimp!