South Carolina Food Guide: Lowcountry and Barbecue

The South Carolina food guide is two traditions: the seafood and rice dishes of the Lowcountry, near the coast, and the whole-hog barbecue of the interior, finished with a mustard-based sauce. South Carolina is small, so one trip can take in a Lowcountry boil in Charleston and barbecue near Columbia.

Spring and fall are comfortable seasons for travel, summer is hot and humid, and hurricane season runs from June to November.

South Carolina food guide: what is Lowcountry cooking?

The Lowcountry is the coastal plain around Charleston, Beaufort and the Sea Islands. Its food grew from West African, Native American and European traditions, adapted to what the tidal rivers and rice fields produced. Rice, shrimp, oysters, crab, okra, greens and tomatoes appear again and again.

Gullah Geechee cooking, from the descendants of enslaved Africans on the coast and the islands, is at the center of this tradition. Look for red rice, okra soup and dishes built on local seafood.

What is a Lowcountry boil?

A Lowcountry boil, also called Frogmore stew, is a communal meal: shrimp, smoked sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes boiled together in seasoned water and poured on a table lined with newspaper. It is usually eaten with your hands at a family gathering or a restaurant that serves it by the pound.

Order it for a group and expect a mess. Season to your taste with hot sauce, butter and lemon.

Hoppin John and other rice dishes

Hoppin John is a dish of rice and field peas or black-eyed peas, cooked with pork and spices. It is a traditional New Year's Day dish across the South, said to bring luck. Charleston's red rice, cooked with tomatoes and sausage, and perloo, a rice dish with chicken or shrimp, belong to the same family.

Rice is more than a side in this state. Carolina Gold, a historic variety, has been grown again in recent years, and some restaurants list it on their menus.

South Carolina mustard barbecue

The middle of the state is known for a mustard-based barbecue sauce, a golden, tangy sauce made with yellow mustard, vinegar and sugar. It is served on pulled pork from a whole hog cooked slowly over wood.

Barbecue is a Saturday meal in many towns, and some joints open only on certain days, so check before you go. Order a tray with pork, sauce on the side and a few sides.

Charleston to Columbia food: a road trip

A trip from Charleston to Columbia, about two hours inland, moves from seafood to barbecue. In Charleston, you can eat at spots such as an oyster shop known for fried chicken and oysters, a seafood hall in an old bank and a Southern restaurant on Queen Street (check that each is open before you go). Farther inland, small towns have barbecue buffets, meat-and-three cafes and farm stands.

Stop for boiled peanuts at a roadside stand, a South Carolina habit. They are soft, salty and eaten from the shell.

Where do you find barbecue buffets and meat-and-three cafes?

Inland South Carolina is the place for a barbecue buffet: a counter or a line of steam trays with pulled pork, fried chicken, rice, hash, collards, macaroni and cheese and banana pudding, usually offered on weekends. A meat-and-three, common in the South, is a weekday lunch where you choose one meat and three sides from a daily list.

Look for gravel lots with plenty of pickup trucks and a handwritten sign. Ask what hash is: it is a stew of pork and sometimes organ meats served over rice, a regional specialty. Take a spoon of everything you do not recognize.

What about desserts and drinks in South Carolina?

Peach cobbler, pecan pie, banana pudding and sweet potato pie are the standard desserts. Sweet tea is the state's drink, and many restaurants serve it by the pitcher. The Lowcountry has also seen a revival of craft distilling and brewing, and some bars serve cocktails built on local rum and bourbon.

If you want something lighter, ask about seasonal fruit. Strawberries arrive in spring and peaches in summer.

Shrimp and grits and other classics

Shrimp and grits is the signature dish of Charleston menus: shrimp in a savory sauce over creamy stone-ground grits. Also look for she-crab soup, fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese and pecan pie. Peaches, grown in the state's midlands, are a summer highlight, and a peach stand is worth a stop.

Ask your server about local specials. Seafood depends on the season, and the best oysters come in the cooler months.

How should you plan a South Carolina trip?

Spring and fall are comfortable seasons for travel. Summer is hot and humid, and hurricane season runs from June to November. Book restaurants in Charleston ahead on weekends, and give yourself time for the drive, because roads in rural areas are slower.

For a closer look at the street where many Charleston restaurants sit, read the King Street Charleston restaurants guide. For a neighbor along the Gulf, see the Louisiana food guide. Every city is on the US guides page.

Boils, grits, mustard sauce and rice dishes all deserve a score. In the Mosey app you can rate each South Carolina dish you try and build a list that runs from the coast to the barbecue belt.