During our visit to
St. Helena Island, we stopped at a small establishment called Gullah Grub
for lunch. The restaurant consisted of one large room where visitors were
seated around tables draped in checkered cloth. The atmosphere was informal
and comfortable, and since our class comprised the entire customer population
that afternoon, we caught 
a
glimpse "behind the scenes" as well.
While the class ate shrimp, shark, cornbread, red rice, hush puppies, potato salad, and a number of other delicious sides, we took a peek in the kitchen to see how the restaurant's owner and another chef put everything together. We observed as they rolled the seafood in garlic powder, chile powder, and breading, before deep frying the shrimp and shark. They made the salad and cornbread beforehand, but they assured us it was in a traditional Gullah fashion.
The definition of "Gullah" food is a slippery and complicated one, and many have written entire books about this very subject. Restaurants also use this term to attract visitors with "authentic Low Country food," when, in fact, the menu may not include much Gullah food at all. In any case, many distinguish Gullah cooking from other kinds of cuisine by the fact that cooks use extremely fresh ingredients much of which are fried. Because the Gullah communities live near the sea, obviously there are a lot of fish, shrimp, crab, scallops, and oysters. And the main Gullah ingredients themselves are simple, leaving a great deal of room for improvisation.
Even though Gullah Grub
appeared to be a larger operation than traditional cooking at home, it was
easy to see these traditional trends in the restaurant's kitchen. Its chefs
make a point of adhering to Gullah cooking traditions as a branch of the
South Carolina Coastal Community Development Corporation. The SCCCSC organizes
residents of the South Carolina Sea Islands in the counties of Charleston,
Horry, Georgetown, and Beaufort to "protect the rights of the residents
of Sea Islands and Coastal Communities and to empower them culturally, economically,
educationally, and socially." Businesses under this organization include
Gullah Grub, Ibile Indigo House, Southern LoCountry Cooking and Catering,
Jayreese Theraputic Services, Community Gifts, The Dress Maker, White Shrimp
Company, and Community Kitchen.
For the most part, people of Gullah descent run all of these businesses. Larger corporations who eat up businesses, land, and tourists who might give the Sea Islands much needed business are pushing out establishments that preserve Gullah culture. By promoting the private businesses of the Islands, SCCCSC can continue to produce quality services that incorporate the history and tradition of the Gullah culture. If restaurants like Gullah Grub have outside support, they can provide visitors, tourists and locals with Gullah cooking, which is something no one should miss.
