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Taste the State: South Carolina's Signature Foods, Recipes, and Their Stories

Taste the State: South Carolina's Signature Foods, Recipes, and Their Stories

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Author: Kevin Mitchell, David S. Shields

Garden & Gun Best Southern Cookbooks pick - Forbes Best New Cookbooks For Travelers pick - 2021 Gourmond International Cookbook Award Finalist - A vivid cultural history of South Carolina's most distinctive ingredients and signature dishes

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.



About the Author

David S. Shields is Carolina Distinguished Professor of the English Language and Literature Department at the University of South Carolina and the chair of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation. He is the author of numerous books, including Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine and The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine Dining, and the recipient of the Southern Foodways Alliance's Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award.


We strive to process all orders within 2-3 business days from the order date (not including holidays or weekends). Processing time includes checking, packing, and sending your orders to the courier service.

This product ships via USPS Priority Mail, and shipping rates are calculated at checkout based on your location. -

When we print your shipping label, you will receive a confirmation email containing a tracking number. Please allow 24-48 hours for the tracking information to update on the courier's website.

Orders ship directly from each brand on the Marketplace, and your order may arrive in separate packages if products from multiple vendors are included. If you would like your order to arrive as one package, or if you have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to orders@thelocalpalate.com.

Author: Kevin Mitchell, David S. Shields

Garden & Gun Best Southern Cookbooks pick - Forbes Best New Cookbooks For Travelers pick - 2021 Gourmond International Cookbook Award Finalist - A vivid cultural history of South Carolina's most distinctive ingredients and signature dishes

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.



About the Author

David S. Shields is Carolina Distinguished Professor of the English Language and Literature Department at the University of South Carolina and the chair of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation. He is the author of numerous books, including Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine and The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine Dining, and the recipient of the Southern Foodways Alliance's Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award.


We strive to process all orders within 2-3 business days from the order date (not including holidays or weekends). Processing time includes checking, packing, and sending your orders to the courier service.

This product ships via USPS Priority Mail, and shipping rates are calculated at checkout based on your location. -

When we print your shipping label, you will receive a confirmation email containing a tracking number. Please allow 24-48 hours for the tracking information to update on the courier's website.

Orders ship directly from each brand on the Marketplace, and your order may arrive in separate packages if products from multiple vendors are included. If you would like your order to arrive as one package, or if you have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to orders@thelocalpalate.com.