GOM Chapter 20: The Gullah People and their Lowcountry cuisine

I know that this post isn't really anything to do with the GOM but I hope you'll agree that Gullah and Lowcountry cuisine is worth a mention – and my excuse is the GOM like their food!

The Gullah People are descended from African slaves, living in the Lowcountry region of the USA – in particular South Carolina and Georgia. Gullah has its own language a “pidgin” mixture of dialects of English, Scottish and African which evolved from the early settlers.

Gullah cuisine came from what the people could grow - crops that were the most reliable and plentiful – rice, corn, potatoes and collard greens (collards) to name but a few. Collards are similar to our “spring greens” or “spring cabbage”. They used pork and chicken and seafood too. Simple, humble ingredients made into dishes packed full of flavour.

I mentioned in GOM 11 and GOM 17 about Gullah cuisine and Lowcountry cooking. There are many influences in both, the African American Gullah, French Huguenot, English and Welsh, native American and Spanish.

Here's a few examples of what you'd see on a menu :

probably one of the most famous is She Crab Soup – it's a great example of fusion – a French bisque soup with crab meat added – it's divine.

grits – which always sounds so unappetising, is reconstituted corn used in all sorts of ways – fritters, with cheese and onion to make a “corn” cake and breads of course. Grits are most famously served with shrimp.

Succotash is a stew principally made from butter beans, stock and corn. Every time I hear the word it makes me smile, reminding me of the cartoon character Sylvester the cat and Daffy Duck who both used the catchphrase “sufferin succotash” - apparently the phrase replaced another, “Suffering Savior”.

Okra gumbo – a soup, thickened using a roux and then adding the okra along with either meat or seafood.

I have to include Rutabaga – just because I love the name - it sounds so exotic – it's a vegetable we know as swede, turnip or neeps.

Gullah Chef, Charlotte Jenkins used to have a restaurant, “Gullah Cuisine” in Mount Pleasant but sadly it closed in 2014 although I understand that the catering side still continues. Any collection of her recipes would be a worthy addition to your cookery bookshelf.

There's a lot of Gullah seasonings to suit every style of cooking which we'll have a look at in the future. The seasonings are easy to create yourself and share with a friend. It's different from a glass of wine although you could have both!

I hope you've enjoyed this small insight.