Low Country Cuisine

The low country in the United States is loosely defined as the area of North and South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida that stretches along the eastern sea coast and consists of mainly salt marshes and barrier islands. I am not sure how to define low country (vs. southern) cuisine. From what we could see it is based on local ingredients, with the preparation strongly influenced by Gullah Geechee tradition. However you describe it, it is delicious. And we spent a lot of our time in Hunting Island checking it out.

Just by luck we stopped at  Barefoot Farms:

I think this market was owned and operated by the chef/owner of "We Island" Gumbo n' Tings, Rowland Washington. We met Chef Washington the first time we stopped here to purchase some local shrimp. He was very modest, said he was the cook and not the chef, and that he was very uncomfortable wearing shoes but it was too cold to go barefoot. Hah!! It did not take us very long to realize that, if you scratched the surface of this very modest appearing market, you would find a very sophisticated food business. And, as we learned later, a supplier to local restaurants.

The shrimp had just arrived and was in coolers beside the shop:

I asked for a pound and got (and paid for) a pound and a half.  

In the market there was no lettuce out for display but I noticed the lettuce growing in the attached greenhouse:

I asked the woman tending the market if I could get some lettuce. "Sure" she said "how much would you like me to cut?' "Enough for two for one meal please." I got enough for three meals.

Then we purchased Chef Washington's "We Island" Garlic Crab and Shrimp Steam and Horseradish Cocktail Sauce:

And home we went to make supper, following the chef's instructions.

"We Island" Steamed Shrimp:

Ingredients:

Fresh shrimp

1/4 package of We Island Garlic Crab and Shrimp Steam 

Instructions:

Put a small amount of water in a large pot - you are going to steam the shrimp, not boil them. Add the seasoning to the water and bring to a boil. When the water is boiling add the shrimp, cover and cook until pink. Do not over cook as shrimp will become tough. Serve with cocktail sauce - do not use hot sauce.

Needless to say, there was enough shrimp for two meals, so the next day we went back to the market and purchased a jar of Gumbo:

Also delicious. And enough for two meals. We had it, served with the leftover shrimp, in soup bowls the first evening and then, served over rice, the second.

As far as we could discern, "We Island" is the term the older Gullah folks used to describe where they lived - "our home". Click to learn more about We Island Gumbo n' Tings and order their products.

Another evening we purchased a tomato pie - which was sold everywhere, but not Barefoot Farm, for supper. It was delicious but much to rich for our taste. Must have contained 500 calories PER BITE!! Check out Paula Dean's Recipe for it here.

When we moved on to Skidaway Island State Park outside Savannah we lunched at Paula Dean's restaurant "Lady and Sons" and tried a lot more southern food - but that is the subject for another post.

Is it a Yam or is it a Sweet Potato?

When we were in Myrtle Beach locally grown sweet potatoes were for sale everywhere, even at Walmart. Much like regular potatoes are in PEI. So when we came upon this little market we decided to stop and purchase some for dinner.

Since we appeared to be in the land of sweet potato experts, I asked BJ what the difference was between a yam and a sweet potato. None, he said. Really? I had to follow up on that.

What I found out is that yams are from Africa and Asia and while they are a root vegetable they are very different botanically from what we call yam. They are starchier and drier. They are a member of the lily family and are not imported into North America.

Sweet Potatoes are a member of the morning glory family and were originally imported to the US from Peru. They can have either firm or soft flesh and come in a variety of colours from very pale to dark yellow.

So why the confusion? In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.

So essentially, BJ was right. In the US and Canada there is no difference between sweet potatoes and yams.

I decided to make stuffed sweet potatoes for supper. Essentially, I baked the potatoes, removed the fleash - very carefully, sweet potato skins are much more fragile than regular potatoes -mashed it with a small amount of cream, chopped parsley, chopped, cooked bacon, butter and grated parmesan cheese and baked at 400F until heated through. Same as for the Lobster-Stuffed Baked Potatoes we made in PEI.

You could also sprinkle chopped, toasted pecans on top - yum

Kure Beach, Cape Fear, North Carolina

Sometimes, as a visitor to an area, you manage to avoid all the touristy, commercial stuff and meet the local people and live as they do. This is the goal of our adventure and has been challenging at times. But not yesterday when we decided to drive to the end of Cape Fear.

By accident we stumbled upon Kure Beach - one of the most real places we have visited on the US Atlantic Coast.

The buildings on the street to the pier, the fishing pier and the beach are all owned by one man - his family purchased the area in 1926 and has maintained control of it ever since. The main activity here is fishing - either from the pier or in the surf. It was cold here yesterday so the beach was deserted.

But lots of people were fishing from the pier

I got a kick out of the woman sitting beside her husband, bundled up against the cold, reading a book. As it turned out, only one fishing rod per person was allowed - she was suffering so her husband could have two. The fish folks were catching appeared to be small but a few were keepers and this fellow was patiently waiting for scraps at the fish cleaning station.

The pier was quite long - a sign at the entrance said that you would walk 1 mile if you walked out and back 3 times.

There was no charge to enter the pier although you had to do so through a shop that sold fishing equipment and touristy junk from China - the one attempt we saw to attract tourism $$. If you wanted to fish the charge was $5 for the day.

When we left we continued driving to the end of the road and took the ferry across the Cape Fear River and drove back to Wilmington. These seagulls followed the boat with the hope of being fed but would not get too close because of Tara. Some kids were having fun feeding them so Tara went back in the car.

All in all, a great cold day at the beach.

Our Route to the Warm Weather - The Adventure Begins

It is really cold on Nova Scotia tonight. Going down to 3 degrees C. It is time to head south, which we will do on Tuesday. Thank heavens.

As promised, here is our itinerary:

Monday, Oct 15: Seabright to Truro NS to visit Arch's sister and family and say good by

Tuesday Oct 16: Truro to Woodstock, NB

Wednesday, Oct 17: Woodstock NB to Freeport, Maine

Thursday, Oct 18: Monegan Sun Casino in CT.

Friday, Oct 19: around New York City to Cape May, NJ for 3 days at the Seashore Campground

Monday, Oct. 22: Ferry from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware and on to the Janes Island State Park on Maryland's eastern shore for 3 days.

Thursday, October 25 we cross the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and bridge to Virginia Beach where we will spend 3 days at First Landing State Park.

Sunday, October 28: Then its is on to Cedar Point National Forest in North Carolina for 4 days. We plan to set up camp here and back track to Okracoke Island, Cape Hatteras, etc.

Thursday, Nov 1: Myrtle Beach State Park for 5 days. Golf heaven. Need I say more? :)

Tuesday, Nov 6: Hunting Island State Park SC. Recommended by the folks at Wheeling It. We are really looking forward to this stop. We love Nina's reviews and she posts great pictures of several sites in each park they review - very helpful.

Sunday, Nov 11:  Skidway Island State Park. GA. This is our Savannah stop. Should be interesting. Also close to Hilton Head. More golf.

Fri Nov 16 to Sat Dec 15 Jekyll Island, GA. Another Wheeling It recommendation + about 100 other people. We expect to have a grand time here.

After Dec 15 who knows? Around Florida and on to Alabama, Mississipi, Louisianna and Texas is the plan. But we are very flexible.

If you have and suggestions for things to do, places to see, places to eat, etc., at any of these stops we look forward to hearing about them.