Choose Charleston

Shall we dine? 

Breaking bread is a time-honored means for folks to get to know another. It also works quite well as a way to become better acquainted with a city or region.

Charleston has been a diner’s delight for as long as history has been recorded and even a bit before. If prehistoric shell rings serve as any indication, native peoples were enjoying the plentiful oysters, clams, and conch in these coastal waters long before the first brick was placed in the foundation of Charles Towne. A great example of a shell ring (also known as a shell midden or mound) can be viewed just shy of Awendaw on a nature trail off of Doer Road.We’ll talk about that a bit more when I discuss the lore and legend of the Sewee.

That’s called a teaser, so stay tuned.

It should surprise no one to learn that seafood remains a large slice of the local fare. But what might raise a few eyebrows is that fact that a great deal of the seafood supped upon in local restaurants is not harvested from local waters. It may seem counterintuitive to think that frozen shrimp from Asia can be purchased in bulk for less money than it costs to buy from a local fisherman whose boat is docked just a few yards down from the restaurant doing the buying, but that’s just the world we live in.

Many folks are doing their part to support the local fishermen and farmers, however. Choosing foods harvested in South Carolina has become an increasingly popular form of activism. There are good reasons, in terms of supporting the regional economy, for making local and sustainable choices, but mostly, I think, people just like it because it feels better, being able to put a face to the name.

That’s the philosophy of one of our top local (not to mention James Beard Foundation nominated) chefs, Mike Lata of FIG, who can tell you exactly why the kale, beets, or triggerfish on your plate tastes so good. He knows the name, methods, and reputation of the man or woman who grew or caught it before it was delivered to his restaurant.

There’s an enormous amount of pride in Charleston cooking. We do love our rice – any rice, really, but especially we love the rice with a local history, like Carolina Gold.

We love our sweet tea. It pains us when we travel and are offered, in far-away restaurants, unsweetened tea with a couple of sugar packets to the side. It is simply not the same.

We love our shrimp and grits, Carolina Gold, and sweet tea as well as we love our fried chicken, drop biscuits, and greens but we are also becoming more and more open to other influences and culinary styles as well. Today, downtown Charleston features a wider array of ethnic and experimental restaurant choices than ever before.

We adore our pastry chefs. May I have an afternoon just to sing songs in their honor? Sweet things, only know that if we foodies had our way, statues of each and every one of you would be on pedestals in Marion Square.

So that’s it, right on the table, in a nutshell. Dining in Charleston isn’t supposed to be a means of filling up before rushing off to the next attraction.

Child, dining in Charleston is the next attraction. So, slow down and savor every bite of it.

OK, we’ve discussed grits, now, let’s talk about shrimp.

Can someone please explain to me the logic of leaving the tail on shrimp? I mean, I don’t mind all that much when the shrimp is fried and I can simply pop the tail off, but what about when it is in a dish? Why should I have to stick my hands into my food and get some kind of sauce all over my fingers in order to remove the tails from my shrimp?

Seriously, does anyone thing that’s appropriate behavior in a classy restaurant?

The perennial question asked by so-called comedians looking for a laugh at the expense of a large portion of the population of the United States. Ofcourse, the real answer to the question is a newspaper sold by boys, recruited through advertisements in comic books.

Now, if you are interested in Southern culture and cuisine, a better question to ask would be: “What are grits?”

Grits were first produced by Native Americans centuries ago. They made both grits and hominy grits. Grits are white or yellow corn that has been dried and then soaked in lye. The corn is rinsed several times and the acid neutralized before the resulting product, hominy, is produced. Once the hominy is made, this is dried and ground into Grits.

Like the shrimp, which Bubba* kept a constant monologue running about for his entire stay at boot camp, grits can be served in a variety of ways. Despite what you may hear from some people spouting fake “Southern” accents, there is no wrong way to eat grits.

Many Southern restaurants serve grits as a side dish with breakfast (although, most allow you to substitute hash browns). Some other popular ways to serve grits are, baked with cheese, sausage grits, with red-eye gravy, Nassau Grits, and ofcourse, Shrimp-grits, plus hundreds of other recipes. And, yes, it’s OK to put butter and sugar on them. I’ve done it myself.

Although grits are a primarily Southern dish, I have found them served as far away as Alaska. This is a treat for a traveling Southerner, for even instant grits are better than no grits at all.

There’s even an annual Grits Festival, held every April in the town of St. George. Some of the activities include: hand crafts, parades, a carnival, contests, dancing, music, and more….. and, ofcourse, Grits.

Southern Cuisine Recipes

_{* If you don’t get the reference to Forrest Gump, you need to rent the movie.}