Taste the State

de Kevin Mitchell, David S. Shields

"South Carolina's singularly rich food tradition includes distinctive ingredients, such as the Bradford Watermelon, Sea Island White Flint Corn, Palmetto Asparagus, and Carolina Gold Rice, and signature dishes such as shrimp and grits, chicken bog, okra soup, Frogmore stew, and crab rice. Taste the State tells the stories of the most important of these ingredients and dishes in 82 engaging profiles. These portraits provide origin stories, the most classic recipes, tales of kitchen creativity and agricultural innovation, and Chef-Scholar Kevin Mitchell's distillation of traditions in several hallmark recipes. Taste the State explores the food of every part of South Carolina-the famous rice and seafood dishes of the Lowcountry; the Pee Dee's catfish and Pinebark stews; the smothered cabbage, pumpkin, and mustard-based barbecue of the Dutch Fork and Orangeburg; the red chicken stew of the midlands; the chestnuts, chinquapins, and corn bread recipes of mountain west. Contributions of Native peoples (hominy grits, squashes, beans), the Gullah-Geechee (field peas, okra, guinea squash, rice, sorghum), and European settlers (garden vegetables, grains, pigs, cattle) in the mixture of ingredients and techniques that would become Carolina cooking are carefully mapped. Intended for residents, visitors, and the curious, Taste the State presents the back stories of foods and dishes Native to or developed in South Carolina, cutting out the fakelore, tourist hype, and newly invented traditions. Here's true Carolina Cooking in all its cultural depth, historical vividness, and sumptuousness-the plain home cooking and the Charleston society banquets, the sweet potato pone and the Lady Baltimore Cake. With photographs and illustrations throughout"-- "From the influence of 1920s fashion on asparagus growers to an heirloom watermelon lost and found, Taste the State abounds with surprising stories from South Carolina's singularly rich food tradition. Here, Kevin Mitchell and David S. Shields present engaging profiles of eighty-two of the state's most distinctive ingredients, such as Carolina Gold rice, Sea Island White Flint corn, and the cone-shaped Charleston Wakefield cabbage, and signature dishes, such as shrimp and grits, chicken bog, okra soup, Frogmore stew, and crab rice. These portraits, illustrated with original photographs and historical drawings, provide origin stories and tales of kitchen creativity and agricultural innovation; historical "receipts" and modern recipes, including Chef Mitchell's distillation of traditions in Hoppin' John fritters, okra and crab stew, and more.Because Carolina cookery combines ingredients and cooking techniques of three greatly divergent cultural traditions, there is more than a little novelty and variety in the food. In Taste the State Mitchell and Shields celebrate the contributions of Native Americans (hominy grits, squashes, and beans), the Gullah Geechee (field peas, okra, guinea squash, rice, and sorghum), and European settlers (garden vegetables, grains, pigs, and cattle) in the mixture of ingredients and techniques that would become Carolina cooking. They also explore the specialties of every region-the famous rice and seafood dishes of the lowcountry; the Pee Dee's catfish and pinebark stews; the smothered cabbage, pumpkin chips, and mustard-based barbecue of the Dutch Fork and Orangeburg; the red chicken stew of the midlands; and the chestnuts, chinquapins, and corn bread recipes of mountain upstate.Taste the State presents the cultural histories of native ingredients and showcases the evolution of the dishes and the variety of preparations that have emerged. Here you will find true Carolina cooking in all of its cultural depth, historical vividness, and sumptuous splendor-from the plain home cooking of sweet potato pone to Lady Baltimore cake worthy of a Charleston society banquet"--