Low Country Local Cuisine

Georgia is really lovely in April, even when it is storming. Not often too hot and humid (avoid the sun at midday, of course, but it is more managable than even a month later--like now), lots of beaches on the barrier islands (although they are washing away), and lots of birds everywhere. All of that is lovely, but the thing that I enjoyed most about my recent trip below the Mason Dixon line on the Atlantic Coast was things that came out of the water.

I loved the local shrimp, which I had every which way, and the grouper--a fish that is rarely on the menu in the landlocked place I live most of the time. My traveling companions really enjoyed the oysters as well, and the thing about these exceptional local ingredients is that where you eat becomes less important because you are eating local food prepared in the usual way.

The only exception to this was the grits--during the pandemic I made so many things that I used to only eat out, and shrimp and grits was one of them. In the aftermath of the public killing of George Floyd, I turned to Toni Tipton Martin's cookbook, Jubilee, and made foods that black Americans have made for centuries, and shrimp and grits is one dish that I make just perfect for me, and I did not ever have great grits when compared to mine. Otherwise, I was satisfied.