How about puttin' some southern soul in your cooking? The Gullah people are descendants of the Africans brought as slaves to the South Carolina and Georgia colonies in the late 1500s. Their unique style of cooking is one of the oldest African and American traditions being practiced in the U.S. today. Heavily focused around rice and vegetables like okra and collard greens, this unique culture serves up some mouth-watering food.
"I don't care how old I get," Charlotte Jenkins, chef and owner of the restaurant Gullah Cuisine in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., told Ivanhoe. "I think I'm always going to be able to whip up a dish."
At her restaurant, Jenkins serves up dishes inspired by her Gullah heritage.
"Gullah is the language of the people that migrated from West Africa," Jenkins explained.
Charlotte's signature dish -- Gullah rice.
"This rice is basically cooked with chicken, sausage and shrimp and vegetables," Jenkins said.
First, dice and cook green peppers, onions and carrots. Then add andouille sausage. Next, toss in cooked chicken and uncooked shrimp. Boil white rice in a homemade roux for 45 minutes. Add the meat and veggies to it and voila … a low-country favorite.
"It has like this sausage in it that makes it like taste good, like wow!" Jenkins's granddaughter Tatiana described.
It's a dish that will please the palette.
Jenkins has been serving up Gullah cuisine in her South Carolina restaurant for twelve years. Today, there are half-a-million Gullah people living between Jacksonville, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida.
